In the Sun
by only here in your arms
Summary: After moving out of her ex's place, Clare Edwards finds herself living with her childhood friend Jake, his joker friend Adam, and the mysterious writer Eli. Living with 3 guys; lots of insane, stupid, funny, and romantic? moments are bound to arise.
1. Chapter 1

**This was inspired by my probably new favorite show premiering in the fall on Fox, "New Girl" starring Zooey Deschanel. Also this has a lot of similarity to MelissaIsLame's story "The Roommate" and I swear I'm not trying to take the idea from her! Her story was amazing beginning to end! So I dedicate this story to her and hope to make it my own. :)**

**I needed to write a different story and start fresh because Don't Panic pt. 2 made me so mad that I can't bring myself to update any of my previous stories right now. I WILL finish them but this idea hit me like a comet (wink wink) and I just needed to do it.**

**Story title: In the Sun by She and Him**

**I hope you enjoy! Please review!**

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><p>Clare Edwards grabbed her final box from the apartment and closed the door behind her in a huff, not bothering to look back at the man who watched her leave. It was only yesterday that she found out that her now ex-boyfriend Owen had cheated on her with a model he was working with. Now she was homeless, moving to her friend's place down the street temporarily until she could find her own place to say.<p>

She didn't have a great paying job as a new writer for the local newspaper but she did have some money coming in from her first published book. It was a short little novel that didn't get much recognition but it was still being distributed around the area and it kept some money flowing in. She was also a TU student in her second year. She didn't know her next move after college, only imagined herself with Owen afterwards.

Clare smiled weakly at her best friend Alli when she showed up at her place for the fourth time that day and brought her things to her temporary room. She sighed and set the box down in a corner and didn't bother to unpack anything just yet.

"You know you can just stay here," Alli told her.

"No, I can't intrude on you and Dave for longer than a few days Alli," Clare replied. "You live with your boyfriend. I doubt he'd enjoy it if your best friend crashed the party."

Alli tried to fake enthusiasm but her face fell. "Yeah, you're right. I just hate seeing you like this. Owen is an asshole. Do you know who it was?"

"The girl? Yeah, wait…" Clare looked through one of her boxes and flipped through a copy of a magazine. "Aha, here." She handed it to Alli and Alli gasped.

"Owen cheated on you with her? Imogen Moreno? That little skank. I've worked with her before. Total biotch."

"Yup," Clare said. "I'm such an idiot. Look at her. She's _gorgeous_ and I'm just…._this._"

"Clare, shut up. You're beautiful. You get hit on more than any person I know and that says a lot since I work with a lot of models," Alli assured her, sitting beside her on the bed.

"I should really get more friends," Clare rolled her eyes. Most of her friends happened to be models. She knew Alli before she booked her first modeling job and supported her through it all, keeping her grounded. Through this, she met Owen Milligan and after several months of dating they ended up moving in together. Little did she know that just a month after they got their apartment, he had started to see Imogen and this went on for two more months until Clare finally found out.

"Maybe we could look online and see places around here that maybe you could rent. Maybe someone's looking for a roommate," Alli suggested.

"Could you look for me? I wanna go for a walk right now, clear my head," Clare smiled weakly again. Alli nodded and Clare walked out of the apartment, not bothering to bring her jacket with her.

She started walking down the sidewalk aimlessly, not paying much to her surroundings. She thought of what made Owen cheat on her. Was it because she was boring? Was it because she was staying pure until marriage? That had to be it, right? Owen was notorious for being a playboy but when Clare and him got together, he seemed to tone down his ways. He was a gentleman to her and she believed the act. He always said that he didn't mind waiting but that was obviously not true since he was sleeping with the famous Imogen Moreno behind her back.

Clare had no idea what happened but suddenly someone was pulling her by the waist out of the street and a car honked loudly past her and she realized now that she almost got run over. She was so lost in her thoughts that she had no idea that she had just walked in the street without looking left and right.

"You okay?"

Clare turned her head to thank her hero and was taken back at the beautiful man who had his arms still protecting her.

"Yeah," she said nervously. The warmth left her as he let her go. "Just thinking too much, wasn't paying attention."

"I see that," he joked. "Are you okay now?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Clare smiled. "Thank you."

"No problem. Hope you can resolve whatever you were thinking about," he smirked and Clare felt herself blush. Suddenly her mind was clear, she truthfully couldn't even remember what had been plaguing her mind. All she could think of was this guy, green eyes and a beautiful face, and risked his own life to save her.

"Yeah, I can't even remember what it was," she admitted to him nervously laughing.

"Good," he smiled. "Unless it was really important…"

Her phone rang and it flashed Owen's name. _Oh…right_. "No, it wasn't important," she told him, silencing her phone and putting it away. "Something dumb."

They looked at each other for what seemed to be a long time. People were walking past but Clare couldn't tear her eyes away from him. She didn't even know his name and she was already smitten by him.

"I-I have to go," she finally said and she looked away embarrassed, not realizing how long she had stared. "Thanks again. See you around?"

"Guess you will," he stuffed his hands in his pockets and smirked, walking away from her. She saw him look back at her one more time, the smirk still on his face, and she felt her heart sigh.

She didn't catch his name and she was sure she wouldn't see him again but she no longer felt sad by Owen's betrayal. Having this moment with a stranger made her realize that she could move on and had the strength to.

If only she'd gotten his name.

Clare stopped at a coffee place and sat near the front window sipping her coffee and reading one of the recent magazines at the shop. She saw Imogen's picture again, the one she had shown Alli earlier, and she rolled her eyes and angrily turned the page. There was tapping on the glass in front of her and she smiled brightly at who it was.

He was in front of her in a split second and she hugged him tightly. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd never leave Muskoka!"

"Transferred to TU this year," Jake Martin answered, Clare's childhood friend and still talked everyone once in a while. "Would've called you but you changed your number. Can't believe it took us this long to cross paths."

"What are you studying?" Clare asked, motioning for him to take the seat beside hers.

"Architecture."

"Of course," Clare laughed. "You're not living on campus, are you?"

"Oh no," Jake said. He lifted up the papers in his hands. "I'm in an apartment with two others. We're actually looking for a fourth roommate. The place is awesome but with just us 3, we can barely make it."

"Actually…" Clare said slowly. "I'm in need of a new place."

Jake raised a brow. "I would think that Clare Edwards would have a place to call her own, especially with her being a famous published writer and all."

Clare scoffed. "Not famous."

"You might as well be in my place. One of my roommates loves your book. I think he might pass out if I introduced you to him," Jake nudged her playfully. "And if you're really interested, I could show you around the place and see if you like it. Might have to talk to the guys about having a girl as the fourth roommate but if you can make rent then I don't think they would mind."

"You mean, I'd be the only girl?"Clare asked unsurely. Sure she already lived with one guy but that guy was her boyfriend. Three guys? At least she knew one…

"They're both awesome Clare. You'd really like them. I'm pretty sure you're wondering so I'll just say it. One has a girlfriend, the other doesn't really date, or so he says. But if it's too weird then…"

"No, I think I should see the place before I make my decision," Clare said quickly. "Besides, I'm kind of in a tough place here. I need a place fast and I don't really want to waste my time looking."

"Well…then wanna go see it now?"

Clare nodded and soon they were in the elevator. Jake was chatting away about finding this apartment when his roommates Eli and Adam were looking for another roommate. Jake was working at a hardware store when Eli and Adam were talking about it and after a week or so, Jake became their roommate.

"It's a really great apartment, I think you'd really like it," Jake said as they approached the door.

"The building is lovely," Clare commented. "Looks more like a hotel than an apartment building."

"Well you can really call it a loft," Jake said. He opened the door and allowed Clare inside first and for the second time that day, her breath was taken away.

It was a modern yet rustic looking place, a wall made of bricks the living room which matched perfectly with the dark red walls and dark wooden flooring. The living room could be seen from the large kitchen with stainless steel appliances and beside the kitchen was a dining table fit for four and a chandelier hanging above it.

Things were strewn about in the living room, on the couches, on the coffee table, and an impressive dvd collection was surrounding the even more impressive entertainment center.

"What do you think?"

Clare turned back to Jake who was smiling, hopeful for a good reaction from her. She let out a breath and started to stutter. "It's…it's beautiful!" she finally sputtered out. "Like a dream!"

"Well there's only 3 bedrooms and we were thinking that the roommate would share with me but I'd be okay with rooming with one of the other guys if they're cool with it so you could have your own," Jake explained. "I'll call them now if you want. Explore the rest of it."

Clare walked through one of the hallways and saw a tidy bathroom, a shower in it as well. Then she peeked through another door and saw a room covered with superhero and movie posters. The bed wasn't made and clothes were all over the floor. Typical, she thought. But she smiled. It was like a teenager's room but also simple.

She walked to another room and immediately knew it was Jake's. CD's were everywhere, a few guitars were on the walls, it was tidy and very blue- his favorite color. The desk had paper, pencils, and rulers. She smiled at the sight of a picture of his mom that was beside his bed. She passed away when she and Jake were kids and Clare was close to her and knew Jake was as well.

Finally she walked down another hallway and saw another bathroom and then what she presumed to be the master bedroom. It was dark looking, painted black with red curtains, some band posters on the wall. It was spotless, even more so than Jake's, and the bathroom door connected to the room was open. There was a large bookcase also and she wondered if this was the roommate who liked her book.

"Clare!"

She walked back to the living room and Jake was just putting his phone on the kitchen counter. "Good news, they're both cool with it. Said you're a childhood friend in need of a place and neither hesitated to say yes. Adam offered to share with me and Eli said you could take the master bedroom and he'd move his stuff into Adam's."

"Oh no, that's okay, he can keep the master," Clare said. "But I'm definitely in. As long as the rent is…"

"$310," Jake answered.

Clare sighed in relief. "Good. That's less than I was paying for in my old place. I'm in."

"Perfect!" Jake hugged Clare and went off to call the roommates back and Clare took out her own phone.

"Alli, guess what?" Clare said excitedly. "I found a place!"


	2. Chapter 2

**The reception of the first chapter was amazing and overwhelming! Thank you so much! I'm glad so many of you are interested! Story dedicated to MelissaIsLame, I'm glad you like this story! :D**

**Twitter: hereinyourarms_**

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**Thanks for reading! Please review!**

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><p>"You know, I can't believe it. Just this morning I was leaving my old apartment and now I'm rooming with three guys," Clare was pretty much jumping up and down in the elevator, a box in her arms. After she agreed with Jake about the room situation, where she'd be taking Adam's old room and he would be in Jake's room.<p>

"Did you call your mom about this news?" Alli asked curiously. She was helping Clare move to the new apartment and was also excited to see it. Clare described it in detail as she walked back to Alli's.

"I did," Clare sighed. "At first she wasn't happy but I explained to her that it was Jake. She always loved him. I may have lied about meeting his roommates already though…"

"You haven't met them?" Alli gasped. "Clare! Seriously?"

"I can't pass this up Alli! And Jake says they'll be home tonight so I'll meet them sooner than later. He didn't say anything bad about them. One of them is a little messy but the other seems to be really clean. Oh and I think Jake said one of them likes my book."

"Ooooh, that's great! I like that one already."

Clare opened the door and laughed when Alli had the same reaction she did. Alli was gaping at everything and almost dropped the box she had in her hands. "Clare, this place is gorgeous!" Alli told her excitedly. "Can't believe 3 guys snatched this up!"

"Believe it," Jake's voice said from somewhere else in the apartment. Soon enough he appeared, putting on a fresh shirt. His toned body was noticeable as he buttoned up his plaid shirt. "You must be Alli."

"And you must be Jake," Alli smiled as she shook his hand. "Clare's childhood best friend? Well as long as you know that _I_ and I alone am her only best friend."

"Okay," Jake chuckled. "Clare's probably gonna get sick of me anyways."

"I won't," Clare rolled her eyes and set aside her box. Then she realized something. "Shoot, I need to get the furniture from the apartment."

"Owen's not keeping it?" Alli asked.

"No, the guest room furniture," Clare replied, flipping out her phone. "I said I'd get it once I found a place."

"Well we'll go there now and I'll disassemble the frame and we'll have it here in no time. You know, you still have to tell me the story about this ex," Jake reminded her.

"I know, I know," Clare muttered as she waited for Owen to answer his phone.

"Clare! Hey, I'm so sorry, I—"

Clare cut him off quickly. "Owen, I'm getting the guest room furniture now."

"Now? You mean you got a place already? Clare, I was thinking that—"

"I'm getting it now. I don't care if you're home or not. I still have the key and when I'm done getting my stuff, I'll leave the key on the counter. Okay? Bye," Clare hung up the phone and took a deep breath to collect herself.

After a few minutes, Clare looked at Jake. "Can we go now?"

The three were soon in Jake's truck and driving towards Clare's old apartment. As Clare gave Jake the directions, they pulled up to a fancy looking building. "Jeez Clare, I can't believe you were amazed by my place, this is a million times better!" Jake said as he looked around the lobby.

"Your place is bigger than what I had here," Clare said. They entered the elevator and made their way up. "Besides, mostly models live here. Not always comfortable walking around."

"Models? You live in a building of models?"

"Keep it in your pants," Clare hit him arm while laughing. "_Lived_in a building of models." When the elevator doors opened, the three of them headed out while Jake lingered slowly, eyeing and being eyed by a brunette girl in a floral dress. Clare rolled her eyes and took a hold of Jake's arm to pull him away.

"Clare!"

She stopped and turned to the girl in the elevator. "Hi Anya," she said forcedly.

"Hi sweetie, how are you? Holly J and I heard about what happened," Anya said, her hand stopping the elevator doors from closing.

"Oh, I'm doing fine," Clare smiled. It was half genuine, half fake. She felt okay now but didn't like people bringing it up.

"That Imogen really needs to find something else to do other than ruin people's lives," Anya told her. "If it makes you feel any better, everyone loves you more than her. Oh and everyone's pissed at Owen. Like, really pissed."

"Imogen?" Jake whispered to Clare but Clare just shook her head. Clare found herself laughing. "I imagined so. Thank you Anya, that did make me feel better."

"Anytime," Anya replied. Then she turned her attention to Jake. "What's your name?"

"I'm Jake," he winked at her, flashing his beautiful smile.

"Wow Clare, you sure do upgrade," Anya teased.

"He's just a friend," Clare assured her.

"Well then, bring him around to the next party okay?" Anya winked at Jake and waved bye to Alli and Clare before the doors finally closed. Clare had to pull Jake away, who was still mesmerized.

"Was she a model?" Jake asked. They walked into the apartment and Clare quickly led them into the guest room.

"Yup," Clare answered. She and Alli were taking the sheets off the mattress. "One of the few I made friends with here. Most models aren't as friendly as that one over there."

"You're a model too?" Jake asked Alli and she nodded. "Jeez Clare, you lived with models, you're friends with models, is your entire calling list of models?" The three of them managed to lift up the mattresses and set them aside and Jake started working on disassembling the frame. Clare and Alli just sat on the floor watching him.

"Clare's ex is a model too," Alli told Jake.

"Oh you still have to tell me the story," Jake said.

"Fine, long story short, I was dating Owen Milligan since last year and we moved in together. Yesterday I find out that Owen's been sleeping with some girl he's working with for an ad. And here we are."

"Ouch, sorry," Jake said sincerely. "What an idiot. And Anya said the girl's name was Imogen?"

"Strange name, right?" Clare laughed. "She's kinda famous for a perfume ad."

Jake looked away from her, a conflicted look on his face, but Clare ignored it.

"Oh, I didn't tell you guys. I almost got run over today."

"Clare!" Alli scolded.

"I'm alive, aren't I? This guy…he saved me."

"Oh, _this guy,_" Alli teased. "Was he cute?"

"Very," Clare blushed. "But I didn't get his name. Sucks but hey, it actually made me feel better. I forgot about Owen for a little while."

After some time, Jake had the entire frame disassembled and managed to get the frame, the mattresses, bedside tables, and even the dresser to his truck with Alli and Clare's help after two hours or so.

"Anything else in the apartment that we need?" Jake asked, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"I forgot to leave the key," Clare told them. "I'll be back in five minutes."

"That's how long the elevator takes to get up there," Alli joked.

"Fine, six minutes," Clare stuck her tongue out at her best friend and headed back inside. Once she got to the room, she set down the key on the counter. She looked through the living room, trying to find anything that could've been hers. She looked through the books and found a copy of her own.

_The Nowhere Land of Perfection by Clare Edwards_

She flipped the book back and forth, contemplating taking it with her even though she had the first ever copy already at the new apartment. The copy she had in her hands had been the one Owen bought when he saw it in a store.

Clare grinned to herself and grabbed a sticky note and a pen. Then she put aside the sticky note and decided to write in the front page of the book instead. _"Make sure you read my next book. I suddenly have some inspiration. Have a good life."_ She put the book on the counter beside the keys and again, closed the door behind her. Now she knew she would never be back there and having the final word felt good.

They drove Alli back to her apartment and Jake and Clare headed to their place. They got Clare's furniture up to the apartment but left it in the living room.

"I am _tired,_" Jake groaned, plopping down onto the couch. "It's like _I_ moved."

"It has been a long day," Clare sighed as she sat beside him. "How about I make dinner? You guys like pasta?"

"Better be using two boxes of pasta, we devour it all," Jake told her with a smile.

"Ah, it seems I'll have to learn to make bigger meals," Clare laughed. She went to the grocery store nearby and got the ingredients she needed to make a big meal for her new roommates. After an hour of cooking and talking to Jake, who sat at the breakfast nook watching her cook, she heard a different voice in the apartment.

"Holy crap! Our new roommate can cook?"

Clare turned her head from the fresh tomato sauce she was making. One of her new roommates, she presumed. He had a big smile on his face and walked over to her, leaning his face into the tomato sauce.

"You are my favorite roommate," he said to her. "I'm Adam Torres."

"Clare Edwards," she smiled and Adam's eyebrows rose a little, seemingly curious. "Wanna try some?" Clare asked, referring to the tomato sauce. Adam nodded and Clare held out the wooden spoon which had a little of the sauce on it. "Wait, blow on it, it's hot—"

Adam tasted it without blowing on it and Clare expected him to burst out angrily over his burnt tongue but Adam did nothing but moan happily by the taste. "Holy crap, that's good. You made this yourself?"

"Yup," Clare said proudly. "I looked at your food choices in the fridge, boys, and I think I'll have to assign several days out of the week where we eat home cooked meals. It's a disaster!"

"We eat fine, thank you very much," Adam scoffed. "But I like you already so I'll gladly eat whatever you make. So tell me about you. Anything we should know about."

"What do you wanna know?" Clare asked as she stirred.

"Are you a murderer?"

"No."

"That's all I needed to know," Adam shrugged and grabbed himself a Coke. "Just kidding. Do you go to school?"

"Yeah, I'm at TU," Clare answered. "Studying Comparative Lit."

"Don't you need to know different languages for that?"

"Yeah, I took Latin and French in high school."

"Clare's quite the scholar," Jake added. "Oh and guess what? You know that book, _The Nowhere Land of Perfection_? This is THE Clare. Now you guys can get off my back about me lying about knowing her."

"Oh yeah!" Adam exclaimed. "NOW I know why your name sounded familiar! Wow, sorry we doubted you dude. Wait…how do I know this is true?"

"I could show you the first manuscript, the one with tons of edits," Clare said. "But you don't have to believe me."

"I do, I do," Adam said quickly. "But I'm sure Eli would love to see the manuscript."

"Oh," Clare said. "You're not the one who loves my book?"

"I do but Eli _loves_ it," Adam said expressively. "Seriously, the first time he read it I remember he called me and said that it was the best book he's ever read. And he's read a lot of books. Have you seen his bookshelf?"

"Yeah, he's got a pretty good collection. When am I meeting him?"

"He's coming home now and says he has a lot to tell us. Something about a beautiful girl," Adam said. Clare slapped his hand when he took a small block of cheese. "You're abusive!"

"You'll live," Clare teased.

"Adam, I need to tell you something," Jake gestured his head pointing away from the kitchen. "Clare, don't burn the place down. We'll be right back."

"Yes sir," she saluted and went back to cooking.

After ten minutes or so she heard the front door open again and a voice. "_Guys! Where are you guys? You won't believe what happened today. What smells good? Anyways, this morning I felt like Spiderman because I saved this _beautiful_ girl from getting hit by a car. She was in the middle of the street and I saw a car coming real close and she wasn't paying attention so I grabbed her. It felt awesome! Plus she was really really beautiful. But I'll never see her again. Guys? Seriously, where are_—"

The voice neared and when Clare turned her head she almost dropped her wooden spoon. It was the guy who saved her. The one she swooned over. And she'd been listening to him describe what happened in his point of her. He was calling her beautiful.

"Hi…" he said slowly and smiled nervously. "I'm guessing you're…the new roommate."

"Yeah," she laughed weakly. She put the wooden spoon aside and walked over to him, holding out her hand. "I'm—"

"Wait!"

Adam and Jake came barging in so quickly and Adam pulled Clare over to the stove.

"Eli, can you tell me that one quote you always say from that book you love?" Jake was asking Eli. They hadn't moved from the place where Clare and Eli were, just a second ago.

"You mean from Nowhere Land? Why?"

"I have to write something for a class and I thought it would be the perfect quote," Jake said. Was he lying? Clare thought. Was he trying to mess with Eli or something?

"_The strive for perfection will always be a lost battle, a lost war, and coming out of that war alive is simply how you continue. You are given strength to go on when you already survived._"

Clare smiled to herself. That was her favorite line too.

"Remember when I said that I knew the girl who wrote that book?" Jake asked Eli.

Eli scoffed and walked further into the kitchen. "Yeah but you're full of shit man."

"Oh so you don't believe me?"

"Nah."

"Yeah well I saw her again today…"

"You're kidding," Eli said sarcastically. He was pouring himself a glass of water.

"Yeah and…hey, do you guys know each other yet?" Jake changed the subject and pointed between Eli and Clare.

"I _was_ about to introduce myself until you two barged in," Clare smirked.

"Well, let me do this introduction then!" Jake clapped his hands together. "Eli Goldsworthy, meet Clare Edwards. Clare Edwards, Eli Goldsworthy."

Eli choked on the water he was drinking and dropped his cup, which was thankfully plastic. He was hitting himself in the chest and coughing harshly and finally when he composed himself, Clare saw him look her in the eye.

"You're…"

"Clare," she smiled, holding out her hand. "Nice to meet you. Well officially. Didn't get the chance to introduce myself this morning."

"This morning?" Adam and Jake said at the same time.

"I…" Eli looked like he was at a loss for words and Clare found it amusing.

"Wait, the guy you were talking about this morning is Eli?" Jake asked Clare.

"And the girl who you were ranting about on the phone is Clare?" Adam asked Eli.

Eli and Clare exchanged glances and almost at the same time, smiled. They both opened their mouth and said, "I guess so."


	3. Chapter 3

**I've never had so many people interested in a story before and I'm so amazed by all the support. Thank you so much! Story dedicated to MelissaIsLame and the chapter is dedicated to all of you lovely readers. Thank you guys so much.**

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**Your reviews are fueling! Here's the new chapter! Thanks for reading and please review! I wanna know your reactions so please share your thoughts!**

**P.S. I know it may seem like drama at the end of this chapter but I assure you, this story is not dramatic. :)**

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><p>After Eli and Clare's formal introduction, Clare kicked them out of the kitchen so she could finish dinner. She also heated up some garlic bread and made a quick chocolate dessert. She cleaned up a bit and went to find them in the living room, then checked the bedrooms and found them in Adam's- now her- room.<p>

She knocked on the door and said, "Dinner's ready."

They seemed to be bringing things from Adam's room into Jake's.

"Thank God, we need a break," Adam groaned and ran out of the room. Jake followed him quickly and when Eli lingered past her, smiling at her and then walking out, Clare had the same reaction to when they saw each other just earlier that day. Her heart jumped in her chest and she felt her face turn red.

Finally everyone was at the table and Adam was already devouring the pasta. "Clare, please cook for us every night," he said with food coming out of his mouth.

"Dude, at least tone it down a little," Eli told him, just lifting his glass to his lips.

"But it's sooooo good," Adam moaned. Then his eyes widened. "That sounded so wrong."

Everyone burst out laughing and Clare got to see Eli's wide smile. When he glanced at her she turned away immediately, turning her attention to Adam who was still laughing. She looked back at him through her lashes and he turned his gaze away from her slowly, looking at his lap. Finally she turned her head back up and smiled when Jake smiled at her.

"It's really awesome getting the see you again Clare," he said. "Last time we saw each other I'm pretty sure you had your catholic school uniform."

Clare blushed when she noticed Eli smirking again. _When does this guy not have that…sexy…smirk…_ She shook her head to get rid of the thought and gulped down the rest of her water.

"So, how about after we get Clare settled in, we have a housewarming party," Adam suggested. "Besides, we haven't had a party here yet."

Jake and Eli shrugged. "Sounds good to me," Jake said.

Clare looked at Eli and he shrugged his shoulders, lips pursing a bit. "Anything to throw a party," he titled his glass a bit to her as he leaned back in his seat.

"Oh, how about you invite that friend of yours," Jake grinned at Clare, eyebrows rising.

"Lucky for you, she never goes to a party without her also-model friend," Clare teased.

Jake's jaw dropped. "Don't kid me around here Edwards or I _will_ throw you out."

"No you won't, she makes good food," Adam pointed his loaded fork across the table at Jake.

"Right," Jake sighed in defeat. "Plus I've known you for over ten years now so kicking you out wouldn't be that nice. But please, call Anya. And her friend. Hell, bring the entire building over, as long as you invite a lot of girls."

"Holy crap Jacob Martin, calm down," Clare laughed. "I'll call her."

"Good," Jake smiled. "I think she was into me."

"Besides formerly living with models and writing Eli's favorite book in the world, what other exciting things should we know about you?" Adam asked, folding his hands femininely under his chin.

"I already told you," Clare started. "I'm not a murderer."

Eli snorted, a little too loud, and everyone looked over at him. "Sorry," he muttered under his breath. He had turned red and Clare saw Adam and Jake exchanging amused looks over the table and she felt very much out of the loop.

After Adam finally stopped laughing quietly, he said, "What caused the need to move?"

Clare sighed and put her fork down. "Broke up with my ex, which meant having to move out of our apartment. Moved out this morning actually. So now the fact that I'm here already is really surreal."

"So," Adam sat up in his chair and with his fingers, started listing. "You move out of your apartment, almost get run over by a car, meet this idiot over here, see Jake again, manage to weasel your way into this apartment and steal my room, _and_ make dinner?"

"She didn't steal your room dumbass, you offered it to her," Eli piped up. "And don't call me an idiot. You're just jealous you didn't get to be a superhero today. If you were in my position, Clare would probably be injured in some way. No offense to either of you or anything. I'm just faster than you Adam. Managed to get Clare out of the way, no scratches or bruises."

"Wow, you're very proud of yourself aren't you," Jake said sarcastically. "Pretty sure your _girlfriend_ wouldn't be happy to hear you talking about someone else like this."

Clare whipped her head quickly in Eli's direction. So he's the one with the girlfriend, Clare thought, thinking about what Jake said earlier. One roommate had a girlfriend, the other doesn't date much, and Clare had been thinking of which description fit who. She didn't know who she wanted Eli to be. Both meant he was off limits.

"I-I," Eli started to stutter. "I think she'd be impressed."

"Oh please, there's nothing impressing her," Adam rolled his eyes. "I told her that I managed to have a game review published on my favorite website and she just waved it off like it was nothing. Eli, she's nice and all, but—"

"I know, I know," Eli cut him off and held his hand out. "'She doesn't seem like my type.' You said it over and over already."

"You see," Adam turned to Clare who still hadn't said anything since getting the news. "Eli and his girlfriend have been dating for _years_ now. Then she changed after establishing her career and—"

"Adam," Eli scolded. "Seriously? Now? The first night she's here and you're already ready to tell Clare all about my personal life?"

"She's our new roommate, she should know," Adam told him.

"No," Clare interrupted. "Eli's right. I barely know either of you and probably don't earn your trusts yet so—" She stood up and grabbed the empty plates from the table and walked into the kitchen and put the plates into the sink.

"_Come on dude, if anyone's gonna talk about my personal life with her, it's gonna be me,"_ Clare heard Eli say as she got the dessert out of the fridge.

"_What's the big deal? She should know you have a girlfriend so things aren't awkward,_" Adam said.

"_Eli, I have something to tell—"_

Eli cut Jake off. _"Yeah, now she knows I have a girlfriend but you don't need to just recap my entire relationship now. She just moved in and we barely know her."_

"_Well, I know her,"_ Jake added in.

"_I still can't believe you actually know THE Clare Edwards,"_ and a sigh followed. _"All this time you actually knew the writer of the best book I've ever read."_

"_You didn't believe me so—"_

"_I know, I know."_

"_I recall you saying you'd dump any girl you were dating at that time if you met Clare Edwards,"_ Adam said and Clare turned her head up. _"You said it, don't deny it."_

"_It's not like I actually thought it'd happen. Shut up Jake."_

"_I wasn't gonna say anything!"_

"_Yeah, you were gonna rub it in my face that you said you knew her and we didn't believe you."_

"…_okay fine, I _was_ gonna say that."_

"_She's really something, isn't she?"_

"_Clare? Yeah, I guess. Stop trying to cause trouble. I'm a taken man, just because now we have this beautiful roommate who happens to be my favorite author doesn't mean I'm just gonna dump my three year long relationship."_

Clare juggled the four plates of tiramisu to the table and placed one in front of each of them. "I hope you guys like coffee flavored things, this is—"

Before Clare finished talking, Adam looked up from his now empty plate. Jake happened to be almost done as well and Eli was already halfway. "Okay then, nevermind," Clare laughed. "Never had people like my cooking as much as you guys do."

"Really?" Adam asked.

"Remember, I used to live with and hang out with mostly models…they're not big eaters. Even with my healthiest meals."

"Well you won't have any of that here my good friend," Jake assured her. "Your cooking will always be appreciated."

Clare pursed her lips to the side. "Just don't expect me to do it every meal, okay? And…don't make requests. I'm not your personal chef."

"Yes ma'am," all three guys said at the same time. And dinner ended the way it began, with laughter.

* * *

><p>Two nights later, after agony on Adam's part with bringing his stuff into Jake's room and Clare sleeping on the couch until everything was settled in, Clare's new room was finally settled and Jake and Adam's was a little cluttered and now sported half the room filled with Adam's posters and the other of Jake's guitars. Clare's walls were bare for now but she was just glad that she could finally sleep there.<p>

They were having their "housewarming" party tonight and Clare was making light snacks for the guests to have something to eat and Adam was trying to clean the living room a bit.

"I HATE VACUUMING!" he called from the living room to Clare, who was in the kitchen.

"TOO BAD!" Clare yelled back. "You're the one who suggested the party!"

"I didn't know I would be the one vacuuming!"

"Would you rather be cooking?"

"….no. Carry on!"

Clare laughed to herself and carefully set a baking sheet into the oven and set the timer. As she cleaned up, Eli walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, anything I can help with?" he asked, breathing heavy.

"Uh…not really," Clare said. "Why do you look like you just ran a marathon?"

"Got off work and realized I left something in one of my classes today so I had to go get it but the room was locked, then I remembered I had to help you guys set up so I ran," he answered.

"Well I have everything covered here, maybe you should check on Adam," Clare suggested.

"Okay," he headed out of the kitchen but turned around. "I don't know if I told you yet but…I'm glad you're here. I can't believe that I got to meet you, much less live with you. You're even cooler than I imagined."

Clare smiled sincerely and felt her cheeks turning red. She just nodded and Eli walked out. For the past two days, neither of them were really conversing as much as she, Adam, and Jake were. Adam was making a big effort to figure out Clare and she didn't mind at all. She was glad that Adam welcomed her with open arms and even bigger stomach for her to feed. She was getting to know him also. Found out that he'd try any food at all, was studying criminal law, and liked having movie marathons.

Clare also got to reconnect with Jake. They were best friends growing up and after just a few days they were back to acting like they used to. Hitting each other, throwing stuff at each other, insulting each other. After Clare told her mother that she'd be living with Jake, her mother was hinting about a relationship that could brew between them but Clare was quick to tell her that there was no way that could happen. Jake was like her brother and good guy friend and the last thing she needed was to lose a good guy friend because of a relationship.

But Eli on the other hand, he kept his distance. He'd be out of the apartment soon after she'd wake up and come back around dinner time, then retire to his room for the night. After the first dinner, which Clare thought went well, Eli was skirting around her. She had asked Adam if he was like this before she came and he said no. She thought they were getting along. Maybe the flirting was too excessive, she thought. Since he has a girlfriend he wanted to keep his distance?

Clare didn't have time to think about it any further because she had to get dressed and put the food out. She changed into a dress Alli picked out for her, a vintage floral one that was off shoulder and flared out at the bottom. It was very "retro", Alli said, which is, "so in right now." Clare straightened her hair also, taking up bathroom time, and after she swiped the straightener through the last curly piece, she heard banging on the door.

"I need to get my deodorant!"

Clare rolled her eyes and opened the door after turning the straightener off. She allowed Adam into the bathroom and went back to hairspray her hair.

Adam got what he needed but before leaving the bathroom, he looked at Clare in the mirror. "You look really nice," he complimented her, a small smile on his face.

"Thanks Adam," she replied, leaning over and kissing his cheek. He fake blushed, putting a hand to his heart and sighing, and Clare pushed him out of the bathroom.

Finally she was putting the last of the small little individual quiches onto a large platter and set it on the dining table where the boys put a lot of random drinks. Sodas, wines, beers, and even some juice boxes. Clare was never a drinker so to humor her, they had bought the kind of juice boxes she liked just for her.

Clare opened the door when someone knocked and she was glad to see Dave and Alli being the first ones to arrive before more people started to come.

After Dave gave Clare a friendly hug, he whistled as he checked out the apartment. "Sweet place Clare. Thanks for making our place look like a dump."

"Your place is awesome," Clare assured him with a smile. "And you get to live with your lovely girlfriend. I'm rooming with three guys, I still have to adjust to the smell."

"So _this_ is what you say about us when we're not around!" Jake emerged from the hallway and walked up to Dave, extending his hand. "You must be Dave, nice to meet you."

Dave and Jake got to talking and Clare took Alli into her new bedroom to show her the slow progress being made.

"This room looks bigger than the one you shared with Owen," Alli noted.

"Maybe because Owen's giant furniture isn't hogging up all the space," Clare rolled her eyes. "I like this though. Smaller bed, that corner over there will be where my new desk is coming, plus Jake promised to build me a cool bookcase that'll go right there." She pointed to the spaces in her room as she explained.

"Jake, eh?" Alli nudged Clare with her hip and went to sit on her bed.

"It's not like that Alli," Clare sighed. "He's only a good friend."

"Oh yeah, there's also that roommate of yours who happened to save your life, call you beautiful, _and_ loooooves your book," Alli teased.

"Who also has a girlfriend," Clare retorted.

"Oh," Alli's face dropped. "Have you met her?"

Clare got off the bed and smoothed down her dress. "I'm supposed to meet her tonight."

"You like him…don't you?"

"I'm _attracted_ to him, there's a difference," Clare went to her mirror and fixed her hair. "But it seems that he doesn't like being around him so there isn't much I can do about that. And I don't really want to be in a relationship or even date anyone for a while. I just want to get settled in here and adjust to not having Owen attached to me the entire time."

"Fair enough," Alli agreed. "I'm really glad that you're not moping around like any other girl would."

Clare turned around and leaned back against her vanity. "Don't tell anyone but I downed a carton of chocolate ice cream when the guys were out last night for 'guys night'. It felt good."

"Clare!"

"What? It's perfectly okay to indulge once in a while. Plus…I got a text last from Owen saying he didn't miss me and he was out with Imogen," Clare said Imogen's name as if it were venom.

"Ugh, that little—"

Someone knocked on the door and the two girls immediately shut up when the door opened. "People are here," Adam reported. Clare nodded and walked out of the room quickly and heard Adam and Alli introducing themselves to each other behind her. Clare walked into the living room and found Jake already talking it up with Anya.

She smirked when Jake glanced at her and Jake just waved her away. Clare saw people she didn't know in conversations with each other so she awkwardly maneuvered her way away from them until she saw a familiar face.

"Wesley! Glad you could make it," Clare beamed and gave Wesley a hug. She felt him return it awkwardly and she smiled. This was such Wesley behavior. And the fact he was wearing a dress shirt and looked a little disheveled made her happy. Wesley didn't go out a lot and when he did, he was always nervous.

"I wouldn't miss it," he replied to her, blushing madly. "Office mates support each other, right?"

"Right," Clare laughed. She and Wesley shared an office at the paper and Wesley was almost always nervous around her. She tried to make him feel comfortable but he would stutter and turn red a lot of the time. Now, Wesley was a bit more relaxed but was still awkward. Clare could tell that this behavior meant that he had some kind of crush on her and she was flattered but she had been dating Owen at the time. Clare was single now but felt nothing but a close friendship with Wesley but hated to continue to disappoint him.

"It's a really nice place," Wesley piped up after a little silence. "I like the brick walls. Personally I hated seeing it anywhere but outside of a building but it looks nice."

"That's what I first noticed too," Clare replied happily. "It's really something right? I'm glad you like it. Maybe you can come over for dinner once in a while."

"Really? That'd-that'd be great," Wesley continued to be cutely flustered and Clare continued her conversation with him eagerly until there was a small crash from the kitchen. She excused herself from Wesley and walked into the kitchen, seeing an angry Eli picking up a few broken pieces of glass off the floor and a girl standing in the middle of the kitchen, her back towards Clare.

"What happened?" Clare asked from the doorway. Eli looked up and he was taken back a bit.

Ignoring Clare's question, he said breathlessly, "You look…really great."

"Thanks," Clare looked down at her dress and looked up. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she repeated her question. "What happened?"

Eli rolled his eyes and got off the floor. "_Someone_ doesn't like the food and insists on being dramatic."

The girl huffed, still not turning around. "I'm a _model_, Eli. I have to watch what I eat."

"I know that," Eli scoffed. "You remind me every time we eat."

"I can't just eat this, probably has thousands of calories," the girl whined and Clare stepped a bit closer.

"They're healthy," she told the girl who still hadn't turned around. "I used to live with a model so I learned how to cook healthy. Trust me, there's less than 200 calories in one of these."

The girl scoffed even louder and finally, slowly turned around. Clare's jaw almost dropped at who this really was. Eli's girlfriend, a model, and the girl who caused the breakup between her and Owen.

Imogen Moreno.

"Ah," Imogen pursed her lips to the side and Clare bit her cheek. She was so angry and didn't know how to react. "Clare Edwards, we meet again."


	4. Chapter 4

**Feels very rushed but I had no idea how to end the chapter really. I wanted a good segway into the next…interesting chapter. You'll see why it'll be interesting. This chapter is for those who've been on an emotional rollercoaster like me during Now or Never. I don't know about you but I'm glad for the hiatus. I need a break and step away from Degrassi land. School is starting soon and I'll be updating less and less but I will try to write during weekends for you guys.**

**But if you follow me on Twitter (hereinyourarms_), you'd know that I have a large workload this year. So thank you for reading and supporting me! You guys are amazing! Story dedicated to MelissaIsLame and chapter is for you, the one reading this.**

**P.S. Cake does NOT happen in this story. Making that clear. Please remember that after reading this chapter. ;)**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**

* * *

><p>Instead of wanting to slap Imogen like she wanted to, Clare reached over to the dining table and grabbed herself a juice box and turned around to walk away, not in the mood to cause a scene. She was angry, of course. The girl that her boyfriend cheated on her with was in her new home and she was Eli's girlfriend. That meant that not only did Owen cheat on Clare but Imogen cheated on Eli. It became too surreal.<p>

"Wait," Eli moved in front of her, blocking her way out. "Do you two know each other?"

"You could say that," Imogen said behind her. "Clare and I here…we have a few connections."

Clare looked up at the ceiling, fuming, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh yeah, there's been _connections_ all right," Clare retorted.

"I'm confused," Eli said nervously.

"Sweetie, will you let Clare and I talk for a little bit?" Imogen asked in a fake innocent voice and when Eli walked out of the kitchen, Clare turned around, pushed past Imogen and gripped the dining table hard. She was trying so hard not to explode but Imogen approaching her again wasn't helping at all.

Clare eyed the unopened bottles of alcohol and contemplated it.

"Alcohol makes you gain weight," Imogen said.

"You think I don't know that," Clare scoffed. "What are you doing here? Eli had to have told you that I lived here."

"Oh he did," Imogen replied. "He went on and on about meeting the talented Clare Edwards and I wanted to kill him. Not only did he babble on about your book endlessly but now you live with him. Little does he know that I know all about you, and about that ex of yours too."

"I can't believe you," Clare told her harshly. "You ruined my relationship and here you are, stringing Eli along. Why shouldn't I tell him what you've been doing behind his back?"

"Because I'll tell him and everyone else what truly inspired your book," Imogen countered, stepping closer to Clare and looking her dead in the eyes.

Clare's expression fell and she was about to burst into tears. This couldn't be happening. "Owen told you," Clare stated the fact. He and Alli were the only ones who knew and it sure as hell wouldn't have been Alli.

"He's very talkative when he's intoxicated, plus I have my ways," Imogen smirked. "Tell Eli and I will expose you, Clare Edwards. Everyone thinks you're perfect and even after reading your book, they still do. But you're far from it."

"I know that," Clare gritted her teeth. The alcohol in her reach became too tempting now.

"And no one will look at you the same if they find out your secret so…keep your mouth shut, got it?"

Clare glared at Imogen, the source of all of her hurt, and as much as it would be enjoyable to beat the crap out of her, Clare just simply put down her juice box and grabbed a bottle of beer. "You win," she told Imogen, who was now smirking proudly. "I hope you're satisfied."

Clare walked out of the kitchen as she opened her beer bottle and sipped it, face scrunching at the taste, and realized she couldn't just down her feelings in alcohol. Especially when she couldn't even swallow it.

"I'll take that," Alli snatched the bottle from Clare's hand and she immediately felt relieved. She wasn't that girl and felt pathetic having stooped to that level just because of Imogen Moreno.

"What's wrong with you?" Alli whispered harshly to Clare when she pulled her aside. "You don't drink."

"I—" Clare was about to explain when she saw Jake out of the corner of her eye.

"_That Imogen really needs to find something else to do other than ruin people's lives,"_

"_Imogen?"_

Clare walked away from Alli without a word and pulled Jake away from his conversation with Anya, pushed him into her room and slammed the door.

"You didn't tell me," she said angrily, pushing him back slightly with each word. "You knew and you didn't tell me!"

"What?" Jake had his arms crossed over his chest, trying to avoid the hits from Clare. She pointed to a wall, the one between her and Eli's room, and Jake realized exactly what she was talking about. "Oh…that."

"Yeah, _oh_," Clare sarcastically said and smacked Jake's shoulder again. "How could you not tell me?"

"I didn't know if it was really her!"

Clare glared at him. "How many Imogens are actually in existence, especially around this area? And I told you, I'm surrounded by models. How many Imogens are models?"

"…Good point. Fine, I should've told you but I didn't know how to," Jake confessed. "Plus her being Eli's girlfriend and—"

"Someone has to tell him, he can't just be in the dark about this," Clare put a hand to her forehead. "But Imogen's blackmailing me so I can't. You have to do it."

"She's blackmailing you? With what? Everyone will know how saintly you are?"

Clare paused a bit, keeping her head down so Jake couldn't see her stressed out face. With a deep breath she looked back up. "Nevermind, I just can't tell him. You do it."

"He won't believe me," Jake sighed. "He'll think that I'm just making it up because I don't really like her."

"Well we can't just let him think that Imogen isn't or didn't cheat on him. I don't know if it's still going on but I wouldn't doubt it. I'm going to explode if he doesn't find out soon but I _can't_ tell him, okay?"

"Wow, what she's got over you must be serious," Jake said softly, putting his hand on her arm comfortingly. Clare leaned into him and he wrapped his arms around her protectively. "Fine, we'll have to figure out a way for him to find out. I don't know how but we'll figure it out."

"Thanks Jake," Clare breathed into his shirt and looked up. Jake was smiling at her sincerely and she felt no romantic vibes at all. This was Jake, being her older, protective brother, and she was extremely glad he was there for her.

"Hey Clare, what—"

Clare turned her head around, still in Jake's arms, and saw Eli with his hand on the door and a surprised expression on his face.

"Oh," he said quickly and Jake and Clare stepped away from each other. Clare nervously looked down and heard Jake laughing softly next to her.

"Uh…I…um…" Eli was stuttering like an idiot and Clare looked up and saw him fidgeting on his feet. "…I'll just—"

Eli walked out of the room, his eyes fixed on Clare and she saw some sad emotion in them. She wasn't sure if it was jealousy or anger or sadness, he just sure wasn't happy about what he saw. He shut the door and there was an awkward silence.

"For someone with a girlfriend he sure reacts differently around you."

Jake was grinning slyly at Clare and she just shook her head. "Whatever. Now he thinks we're dating!"

"How about we act like we are?" Jake wiggled his eyebrows and Clare reached over to her pillow and swung it at Jake's face, hitting him directly.

"No," Clare said seriously. "No acting here. There's already a huge lie floating around and I'd rather not add any more to it."

"Fine," Jake held his hands up. "I was only kidding. So how are we gonna make sure that Eli finds out? Do you have any sort of evidence?"

"I have some texts," Clare replied unsurely.

They look at each other and shook their heads. "Yeah, that's not enough," Jake agreed. "Maybe Eli catching her in the act. What'd the text say?"

Clare grabbed her phone off her vanity and opened up the last text. "Got this one last night saying he was out with Imogen, also adding that he didn't miss me."

"Okay…harsh," he commented. "But he texts you when he's out with her so maybe next time you can trick him into texting where he is and we'll show up there…with Eli…and boom, he finds out."

"Not a bad idea," Clare said. "But who knows when he'll text me again."

"Well that's our only plan for now," Jake shrugged. "Maybe we can come up with something better but for now…I think it's best if we get out of this room and join the party before people start thinking we're in here having sex."

"Gross!" Clare shrieked and smacked him upside the head.

"Along with the same backhand, I see you're still keeping that promise of yours," Jake pointed to Clare's purity ring and she covered her left hand with her right.

"You are correct there," she replied proudly. "And I intend to keep this promise no matter what."

"I actually thought that Imogen was blackmailing you with the secret that you broke that promise but guess that's not the case," he said. "I'm glad that it's not but I can't imagine what she has over you that's that bad."

"You seriously have no idea," Clare turned away and gulped. "Evil girl, that one is."

"Sure seems like it. Shall we?"

Jake opened the door and Clare stepped out of the room and into the living room with Jake trailing behind her and she saw Alli with an amused face. Then she felt Jake grabbing her waist and pulling her into the kitchen where Imogen and Eli still were. Jake didn't let up on his grip on Clare and she wasn't moving away or anything. They each grabbed some food and Clare felt stares on them.

"So…when were you guys going to tell me that you were dating?" Eli asked.

Clare turned her head to him and he had no expression on his face. Plus he looked like he was about to break the red cup in his hand.

"We're not," Jake replied nonchalant, putting food on his plate. "Can't friends be friendly?"

"Wasn't friendly I saw," Eli muttered against the rim of his cup.

"Clare, you sure do work fast," Imogen said snottily.

Clare scoffed and closed her eyes for a second and controlled her anger. Like earlier, she couldn't hit her like she wanted to. She had no idea why Imogen was continuing to make her life miserable. After stealing her boyfriend and blackmailing her, you'd think she'd be satisfied but that didn't seem to be the case at all.

"Don't listen to her," Jake whispered against the top of her head. He was a head taller easily and snaked his arm back around her waist again after filling up his plate. "You can be mature about this if she can't."

"Seems like a downgrade from a model though," Imogen muttered quietly but still loud enough for all of them to hear.

"Hey! I don't know what—"

The next thing was shocking to all. Even to Clare herself. But she was angry and upset and hurt and hated Jake being dragged into it that she had no idea what she was doing. She wanted to prove a point, even if it was a lie. Or just to piss off Imogen.

But she found herself grabbing Jake's head and pulling it down to hers, kissing him surprisingly and coaxing his mouth open with her tongue so they could share a steamy kiss. After a second of apprehension, Jake was kissing back with the same enthusiasm, both arms now around her waist and pulling her closer. Clare heard a gasp in the kitchen and didn't know who it came from but she didn't care. That was just the reaction she wanted.

Clare pulled at Jake's hair as she pulled him closer and she felt him groan against her lips and continued to kiss her. Finally, after what seemed to be forever, Clare pulled away slowly and stepped back down onto the heels of her foot.

"Well…that was…something," Imogen commented, seemingly at a loss for words.

"It was," Jake looked down at Clare smirking, knowing exactly what Clare did. Clare almost sighed in relief that Jake didn't see anything but a sneaky plan behind that kiss.

"Who needs a model when you can this guy right here," Clare put her arm around Jake's waist. "We're not dating…we're just…having fun."

"Sure looks like it," Eli dumped the rest of his drink into the sink almost angrily. "Thought there'd be some kind of rule that dating your roommate is off limits."

"Well considering Clare is the only girl, I think she could decide that herself," Jake countered.

Clare saw Eli staring at her, now a fuming expression on his face. She was trying to get a rise out of Imogen who was insulting Jake but it seemed that Eli was more affected by it. She felt guilty, knowing Imogen's true nature, and she desperately wanted to tell him the truth. Right then. Right now.

"I should be going," Imogen announced out of nowhere. "Early shoot tomorrow." She leaned in for a kiss and Eli returned it only for a few seconds and Imogen was disappointed when Eli pulled away rather quickly. "Walk me out?" she asked him and they left the kitchen, leading Clare and Jake to burst out laughing.

"Wow, that was good," Jake was saying between laughs. "Who knew you had that in you?"

"Well she insulted you so I had to bring out the big guns," Clare replied smiling.

"By guns, I think you mean lips and where'd you learn to kiss like that? Last time we did that we were—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's not bring _that_ up," Clare cut him off quickly, putting her hand over his mouth.

"I think I came in at the wrong time…" Adam said awkwardly. He walked into the kitchen and threw something away.

"Oh, just reminiscing our first kiss," Jake replied nonchalant. Clare tried to cover his mouth again but she struggled as Jake took a hold of her arms. "We were seven and I pushed her into the mud, then he grabbed me and pulled me into the mud. I wanted to annoy her so I kissed her out of nowhere."

"Yeah and got mud on my lips," Clare gritted from her teeth as she continued to try to hit him. Finally she stopped and just took a step back. "You piss me off sometimes, you know that?"

"Yeah, sure seemed like it when you were making out with me," Jake teased and Adam's eyes grew wide.

"Are you guys dating?" he asked, gesturing between the two.

"No," they said at the same time.

"Then why…"

"Let's not talk about it, okay? Maybe later but right now…"

Clare's phone started beeping and she pulled it out of her dress pocket and opened the text. Her smiling face turned sad fast at the sight of the picture and the message she received.

"Clare, what's—"

She walked out of the kitchen quickly and into her room, plopping down on the bed and burying her face in her pillow. She let out a silenced scream and started mumbling into it angrily. A hand touched her arm and she flinched and looked up from her pillow.

Her head fell again and she closed her eyes. "Is there any ice cream that I haven't devoured yet?" she said sadly.

"Well considering after we got home last night and I was looking for some and saw that it was gone, I'd say no," Adam joked and rubbed her shoulder. "Look, I know we're not as close as you and Jake are but I want you to know that I'm always here. Literally. I am _always_ here."

Clare found herself laughing. "Thanks Adam."

"So what was it about?" He sat on the bed with his back on the headboard and Clare leaned over to rest her head against his chest.

"You don't want to know or see," Clare told him honestly. "Involves my ex doing something…"

"GROSS," Adam exclaimed and put his hand over his eyes.

"Not like that you sicko," Clare chuckled. "Him kissing another girl. Did I tell you and Eli that my ex cheated on me?"

Adam tensed up and Clare picked her head up and looked at him. "Jake told you…" she accused.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I guess you know that if we try to tell Eli, he'll just think we were lying."

"Well here," Clare took her phone out again and showed him the picture. "Do you think that looks like Imogen enough?"

"Wow, she leaves her boyfriend's place and goes straight to him," Adam mumbled before looking at the picture. "Not really. All you can see is her hair."

"Great," Clare whined. "How can we get Eli to find out?"

"I don't know and frankly, that's not even in my mind."

"But, he's your best friend Adam."

"But right now you need me since I can tell that even though you're acting like it doesn't bother you right now, it's actually killing you inside to see that," Adam pointed to the phone then poked Clare's forehead. "Besides, aren't girls supposed to pretend that nothing happened then all of a sudden just start bawling about it and not get out of bed for days?"

"Stop watching cliché romantic comedies."

"Maybe we'll take a different approach. Tomorrow night, we'll take you out to a bar or something. No, you don't need to drink. But maybe just getting you out and distracting you would help."

Clare smiled and relaxed against Adam even more, daring to drape an arm around his waist. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"You make my food," Adam shrugged. "And you are my roommate now. But this also could just be a good excuse to have you as my wingman. Eli and Jake don't work."

"Well I'll help you out as much as possible. Thanks Adam."

"No problem. Now are we going back to _your_ party or are we sleeping?...Clare?"

* * *

><p>"I swear to God, you guys take longer than I do."<p>

"Perfection takes time sweetheart."

"Yeah or maybe it just takes a lot of time to work with the little you have."

"You really know how to bruise an ego."

"I know how to knock egos down a few notches."

"In a few weeks I'm sure my self esteem will be shot."

"Can you just finish getting ready? ALL OF YOU?"

Clare sat in the living room flipping through a magazine when finally one of the guys emerged. Eli was wearing a gray button down and black skinny jeans, hair slicked back slightly. Clare felt pretty under dressed in her navy and gray long sleeve lacy blouse, tucked into a black ruffly skirt. She was going to make her way to change but Eli caught her wrist and pulled her back.

"You look perfect," he told her, slight hesitance in his voice.

"Thanks," Clare turned away so he couldn't see her blush. "You look nice too."

"Everyone is sexy here, yes, now let's go." Adam and Jake came out of their room at the same time and Adam linked his arm with Clare and headed towards the door. "Operation 'Get Clare laid' is a go!"

"ADAM!" Clare pinched Adam's side harshly and he squeaked in pain.

"Fine, Operation 'Make Clare feel better'. Happy?"

"Much. Now let's go."


	5. Chapter 5

**Things boutta get a little crazy up in here! And crazy I mean more complicated and by that I mean just read. :P This could be the final chapter I post until after school starts so enjoy! THE FINALE WAS WONDERFUL ALSO. Just had to point that out. Story dedicated to MelissaIsLame. Chapter dedicated to the wonderful people I met and talked to during Now or Never, whether it be by Twitter or Tumblr or here.**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**

* * *

><p>"So…what do we do?"<p>

The four of them got a semi-circle booth at the bar they went to, which was also a karaoke bar and someone was singing terribly on stage. Clare resisted the urge to cover her ears, not wanting to look rude, but it was not a pleasant sound. Adam and Jake were on her either side and Eli was on the other side of Jake, hands on the table and playing with his rings.

"Enjoy the show a bit, have some drinks, first round is on me. What's your poison this time Clare? Apple juice?"

"I'd like a raspberry tea, thank you very much," Clare narrowed her eyes at him. "And don't you dare try to put something in it. I'll know."

Adam walked to the bartender and Clare turned her attention back to the stage where now a guy, a good looking one at that, was taking the stage with his guitar. He started singing a mellow song and Clare found it entertaining and definitely a lot better than the girl who was singing before. She didn't realize how intently she'd been watching until someone poked her shoulder.

Jake had his arm around the back of the booth, his right hand close to Clare's shoulder, and she was poked and turned her head.

"I think you have a thing for guys with guitars," Jake teased then took a sip of his beer.

"I do not," Clare scoffed.

"Someone at this table has a few guitars," Adam pointed out.

"That's exactly my point," Jake replied while titling his beer toward Adam. He winked at Clare and caused her to roll her eyes.

"I do _not_ have a thing for guys with guitars," Clare groaned. She drank a good portion of her tea, trying to ignore the stares from the guys.

"So tell us then, what kind of guys do you go for?" Adam asked curiously. "No, I'm serious. This entire trip is to get Clare out and…I don't know, looking? Could help speed up the process if we know what to look for."

"You're becoming my super awesome BFF with every passing second, Adam. What's next? You'll do my hair and paint my nails?"

"No Clare, like I told you before, this is all part of a plan so you can be my wingman too."

"Then you'll have to tell me your type of lady."

"I asked you first."

Clare looked around the faces at the table and then stopped at Eli, looking at him as he stared back. He hadn't said a word since leaving the apartment and seemed content in keeping it that way as he sipped on his drink slowly. She started to think of the attributes in a guy that she would like, thinking about her past boyfriends, and what it was that she really looked for.

"I guess intelligence is first," Clare began and Jake and Adam both groaned. "No, I'm completely serious. As long as it seems like they've picked up a difficult book before. Like, at least when you ask them what their favorite book is, they know their answer. On three, all of you say your favorite book. One, two, three."

"_To Kill a Mockingbird."_

"_Catcher in the Rye."_

"Yours."

All of the words jumbled together as the three boys spoke in unison but Clare heard Eli loud and clear. She forgot that Eli was a fan of her book, now only seeing him as her roommate, and to hear him admit it out loud again made a jolt go through Clare's heart.

"See," Clare cleared her throat and tore her eyes away from Eli. "A guy who has an answer to that question, but as long as the answer isn't Playboy or some sports magazine."

"So not a perv?"

"Shut up," Clare pleaded. "Just stop."

"Fine, fine," Jake laughed. "So what else does your knight in shining armor need to be? Shiny and silver?"

"I don't want a car as a boyfriend, but that leads me to a good point. Someone that looks presentable. Not someone who doesn't care about his appearance. Good hygiene, looks like he showers everyday."

"Guess that means Adam's out of the race."

Clare turned her head to Jake, thinking he'd said the joke, but it had been Eli. Mr. Quiet and Broody has broken his silence with a funny jab at Adam.

"Race or not, I'm way ahead of _you_," Adam retorted back just as snappily.

"I think we all know that I'm defeating both of you," Jake said while gesturing both hands to the guys. "Clare's been my friend for over ten years now, I have the leg up."

"Yeah that's not all that's up," Eli mumbled against the glass of his beer.

Clare's eyes widened and she put her hands on the table. "Okay, I think I've been around enough of this for a little while," she exclaimed. "Let me out Adam, I need some fresh, non-tension filled air."

Clare took her drink with her as she walked away from the booth and stood at an empty spot at the bar. She looked back on stage and a girl without a care in the world was singing at the microphone. Her dark brown hair was being tossed around and she wobbled on her heels. She did have talent though, even while she was seemingly drunk, she was still very good.

"Hey there, this seat taken?"

Clare turned around and faced a tall man, faint beard on his face, and breath that was unmistakably alcohol breath. She was in no mood to be hit on right now so she brought on her best face.

"Yes actually, my…friend is at the bathroom," she lied, hoping the guy would just go away when he realized that she wasn't alone."

"Friend, eh?" the guy stepped even closer as Clare took a step back. Her back hit the stools of the bar and she felt stuck. "What's your name?"

"She's taken."

An unfamiliar arm took her by the waist and she was ready to pull away when she looked up and saw Eli beside her. His hand was extremely warm as it touched her. Even over the clothes she could feel his skin burning her own. Eli had pulled her close to him that her arm became trapped between them and she awkwardly bent her elbow and barely touched Eli's back. Her fist was clenched, not sure on what to do with them, so she stood there awkwardly, not understanding what's going on.

"She said she was here with a friend," the man said.

"Yeah, her _boy_friend, so how about you walk away now before you make my _girl_friend here even more uncomfortable than you already have," Eli talked with such seriousness that Clare almost believed him. It was sincere and genuine and Clare, for a split second, did believe Eli's words but remembered that no, Eli was not her boyfriend and she was certainly not his girlfriend. This was simply him rescuing her but she had no clue why.

The man walked away without another word and Clare moved out of Eli's touch. "What was that?" she whispered harshly.

"The guy looked creepy so I came here and made him go away," Eli answered. "I was going to refill my drink and I saw it."

"I could've handled myself, thank you," Clare rolled her eyes and didn't look into his. She never needed people to stick up for her or put words in her mouth.

"I was trying to help," Eli replied strongly. "Jake and Adam aren't your only roommates that are your friends, Clare. I'm trying to make an effort here."

"Why now?"

"Why not?"

"Why are you being so snarky to Jake and Adam tonight?"

"Why are you asking so many questions?"

"Why are you being like this?"

"Like what?"

"This!" Clare threw her hands up and realized she had said that too loud. Thankfully there was music playing in the bar and barely anyone heard her. "Difficult, stubborn, actually talking to me."

"Maybe I was a little intimidated before but I'm trying now, okay? I know it seems like I've been avoiding you but…"

"But what?" Clare sighed.

"Imogen doesn't want me around you more than I should be."

Clare's jaw dropped slightly and she looked away from Eli, not sure what to say. Maybe she should just tell him the truth now. But she was angry. At Imogen for continuing to mess with her life, at Eli for actually listening to her.

"Eli," she began nervously. "I have something to tell you."

"No, me first," he cut her off gently. "I don't want to keep avoiding you. Imogen will just have to deal with it."

"But she's your girlfriend," Clare said this with difficulty. "Eli, I should—"

"Like I said, she'll have to deal with it. I don't really want to lose the opportunity to make a good friend. Plus…I live with you, avoiding you is getting difficult," Eli laughed.

"I…I don't know what to say," Clare replied honestly.

"You don't have to say anything," Eli shrugged. "Just know that I will be trying."

"Okay," Clare softly said. "Thanks."

"No problem," Eli smiled. "I better get back before the guys start thinking I ditched them. You coming back?"

"I'm…just gonna stay here for a while."

"Okay, we'll be there if you need us."

After a lingering look, Eli finally walked away and Clare sat on the stool beside her. She was so close to telling Eli and she could have, truthfully, if he didn't keep interrupting her. But it seemed like a sign. Maybe he wasn't supposed to find out from her.

Clare finished her iced tea and got off her seat, turned around and immediately bumped into a body. She stumbled and caught herself, ready to apologize to who it was she ran into, until she became was a little struck. This man had beautiful blonde-ish, brown hair and dressed as if he had all the money in the world. His eyes were stunning as well, almost matching hers.

"I should be watching where I'm going but if it means running into someone like you then please, cover my eyes."

Normally such cheesy lines would make Clare just walk away but the small, sly smile that graced the man's lips was too irresistible. She found herself blushing and smiling madly, looking down at her feet.

"Surely a girl like you can't be alone tonight but this may be my only opportunity, can I get you a drink?"

"Um…sure, raspberry tea?"

He leaned over the bar to get the attention of the bartender at the other end and ordered Clare's drink for her. They sat down beside each other and Clare was messing with her ring slightly, a little uncomfortable at the unfamiliar situation but feeling rather spontaneous. The drink was placed in front of her and she put it up to her lips but caught his eye. He was holding out his own drink to her and she clanked the glasses together and then drank.

"So…what's your name?" he asked her after setting his drink down.

"Clare," she answered. "Clare Edwards."

"Well, nice to meet you Ms. Clare Edwards. I'm Declan Coyne."

* * *

><p>"You can't be seriously going out with this guy."<p>

Eli stood at Clare's bedroom doorway several days later as she put on her earrings while facing her vanity. After meeting Declan that night at the bar, they exchanged numbers and eventually Declan asked her out to dinner. Clare had no classes that night or work so she said yes and was definitely looking forward to it. But it seemed that not everyone was in favor.

"What's wrong with Declan?" Clare asked. She fluffed up her curly hair and paid not much attention to Eli. They were talking more and more but it seemed that neither was yet comfortable with the other. Besides, Imogen made more appearances at the apartment than usual.

"He's a lot older than you."

"By three years. _Almost_ three years. So what? I'm nineteen, he's twenty-one. That's hardly a shocker."

"He looks more experienced."

Clare shot Eli a look. "Everyone is more experienced than me."

"You know, I actually agree with Eli here," Jake waltzed past Eli and came into Clare's room, holding a bowl in one hand and a spoon in the other.

"You cannot be serious," Clare said in disbelief.

"No, I mean, you barely know this guy," Jake said.

"And that's why I'm going on a date with him. To get to know him. Did you know that his dad's a diplomat and his mom has created multiple non-profit organizations and he happens to run one of them all on his own? Now tell me that this guy isn't a good guy."

"Guys, how about we let Clare do what she wants?" Adam suggested, now showing up at her door. "I thought I'd do the cool big brother thing since Jake is the over-protective brother and Eli is…the internet Tumblr stalker that track tags Clare's name."

"That was once!" Eli defended himself. "And you coaxed me into it."

"I did not!"

"GUYS!"

Eli and Adam stopped their bickering and turned their attention to Clare. "I'm really enjoying this banter, truly, I am, but can you leave me to get ready in peace? You guys are becoming more like gossipy girls every day."

"We're not gossipy girls," Adam mumbled as he walked away. Eli walked out unsurely and Jake took his time, lingering at the door and swaying on his feet.

"Jake, _please_," Clare pleaded. "I just need ten minutes by myself. I'd like to be in a good mood when I go out tonight. You guys aren't helping."

"I just…don't want to see you get hurt Clare. I missed it with the last boyfriend and I'm trying to make sure it doesn't happen again." Jake didn't look her in the eye as he said this but Clare knew he meant it.

"Thank you," Clare sincerely replied. "But I'll be fine. If I'm not then I'll text you and you can barge in. But wear something fancy, he's taking me out to this expensive restaurant."

"Fancy," Jake repeated. "This guy…"

"Is different, classy, mature, and said his favorite book is _The Great Gatsby_," Clare listed as she smiled. "The qualities I look for and then some." Clare grabbed her black fitted blazer and put it on over her dress.

"Fine, he sounds…decent."

"Okay, one question here." Clare was starting to get irritated. "Days ago you were hinting at me and Eli and you weren't against that. Now I tell you about this new guy and you're completely against it. This guy is single and he's interested in me. Why can't you just be supportive?"

"Because I…nevermind."

"No, I want to know."

"Not tonight, I'm sure your date will be arriving soon." Jake exited the room and Clare suppressed her conversation with Jake into the back of her head and focused on getting ready. Alli had gotten her a cute new headband for her date with Declan and she put it on, smiling and cheesing to herself in the mirror.

"Clare, your dashing date is here!"

Clare rolled her eyes at Adam's choice of words and walked out of her room, already in her heels and carrying her bag, and saw a suit clad Declan Coyne at the front door, holding a single red rose. "For you," he charmingly said and Clare couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you," she replied and smelled the rose. She put it on the coffee table in the living room and walked back to Declan. "Since you already met Adam, I'll introduce you to my two other roommates."

Clare summoned them from the kitchen and said, "Eli, Jake, this is Declan."

Both Eli and Jake said a quick "Hey" and shook Declan's hand. Then an awkward silence filled the room. After several moments of awkwardness, Clare finally broke through the tension.

"Well, this has been sufficiently awkward. We're leaving now, don't wait up," Clare followed Declan out of the apartment but stuck her head back in and quickly said, "Thanks for not killing him." Then she shut the door.

"Shall we?" Declan asked, holding his arm out to her.

Clare looped her hand through and grabbed his elbow. "We shall."

* * *

><p>"Where IS she? It's already late! She's breaking curfew!"<p>

"_Relax_. Jeez. It's 11:30."

"Still!"

"She said she'd be home by midnight at the latest. She has thirty minutes. Just sit down."

"What if something happened to her? Something bad?"

"What? Declan's car didn't have automated heaters in the seats? Nothing bad has or will happen."

"But—"

"No."

"But—"

"Stop."

"But—"

"Eli, I swear to God if you don't stop talking I will duct tape your mouth shut."

Adam was practically being forced to stay in the living room with Eli as they waited for Clare to come back from her date. Adam sat lazily on the couch, head resting back against the couch but could still see Eli pacing. He was no longer talking but continued to pace and his eyes were opened wide and he was mumbling to himself.

"Could this be considered a manic…episode?" Adam asked cautiously.

"No, I'm not manic. I'm just worried," Eli answered continuing to pace. "Don't worry. I've been taking my pills."

"Good," Adam sighed in relief. After Eli was diagnosed bipolar while they were in high school, Adam took it upon himself, plus promised Eli's parents, to look after him and make sure he was doing okay. Lately with Eli's mood swings with Clare around, Adam was getting more and more worried about his best friend. But Eli admitting to him that he was not manic made him relieved. Plus he wouldn't lie about taking his pills.

That was the reason Eli loved Clare's book so much. Eli read it before his diagnosis and then after, he finally reasoned with his condition and himself by reading Clare's words. _The Nowhere Land of Perfection_. "_You are given the strength to go on when you already survived."_

"You like her, don't you," Adam pointed out to Eli and Eli immediately stopped.

"N-No," Eli stuttered terribly. "I have a girlfriend."

"That doesn't mean you can't like Clare too. Plus…Eli…there's something you should know about Imogen.

"What?" Eli rolled his eyes and went back to pacing.

"Well…I don't know if you know this but the reason Clare left her ex is because her ex was cheating on her," Adam began.

"That idiot," Eli growled.

"Yeah and Clare's ex…the girl he was seeing while he was with Clare was…Imogen."

Eli stopped pacing again and turned and glared at Adam. "Why do you hate Imogen so much that you would make lies about her?" Eli accused bitterly.

"I don't hate her, Eli. But she's not as perfect as you think!"

"I know she's not perfect, no one is perfect."

"Yeah, Clare's book taught you that. You know why Imogen was being so snarky to Clare that night of the party? Yeah, Clare told me what happened. She tells me a lot of things. So, Imogen is taunting Clare about what happened to her and her ex. Plus Clare has pictures on her phone as evidence and texts and—"

"You mean…Clare knew too? Clare knew all along?" Eli asked in disbelief.

"Oh don't even pretend like you would've believed Clare. You won't believe me right now. But if you saw Clare's face when she was telling me everything, you wouldn't doubt her for a second. Seeing Imogen here almost killed her. She almost drank. So before you go all 'Imogen is a saint' on me, just remember that whether you believe it or not, she _hurt_ Clare. Deny that Imogen cheated all you want but she also hurt Clare when she spoke to her that night. And fine, you want to know the truth? I do hate Imogen. There. The only reason I tolerated it was because I had no reason not to. Now I do. So…" Adam got off the couch and walked away from the living room, slamming a door shut behind him, leaving Eli alone.

Adam woke up to someone shaking him and he realized he'd fallen asleep waiting for Clare to get home. Instead of storming off into his own room he went to Clare's and fell asleep on her bed.

"Eli tells me you guys got into a fight but won't say what about," Clare said sadly. She was kneeling next to the bed and had her hand on Adam's arm comfortingly.

"I told him about Imogen," Adam confessed, making Clare's eyes widen.

"You didn't…"

"I did. Whether or not he believed me is the question."

"Well he looked really pissed and didn't say anything else other than you guys got into a fight. He was really short with me so I guess he's mad at me too?"

"Don't worry about him tonight," Adam slid over on the bed and made room for Clare who gladly laid down beside him. "How was that date?"

Clare stayed quiet for a few seconds and bowed her head down. Adam smirked and laughed. "Must've been one hell of a date then."

"It was…magical," Clare said in awe. "Really, it was. It was simple but…Declan's really great."

"Does he have a sister?" Adam teased, half-joking.

"Yes…but she's a lesbian," Clare told him.

"Damn. Well at least you're happy. Now that you've got someone, you now have to help me."

"I'll gladly do it," Clare smiled. "Maybe I'll bring you around the newspaper, see what girls snatch you up there."

"Well I do have a thing for writers…not you though. You're off limits."

"I am?"

"Jake's childhood best friend, Eli's former and probably still obsession, you just have this bubble around you that says 'Don't go for it'," Adam replied honestly. "But you've become the first girl that I've really felt comfortable with. Like this. I would never have laid in a bed with a girl so nonchalant."

"Glad I'm special," Clare looked up at him.

"So can I sleep here? It's too comfortable to move."

"Hasn't stopped you before," Clare grinned. Adam adjusted his body slightly and Clare followed, laying beside him and pulling the covers over them.

"You should've seen Eli's face when I told him that he had feelings for you," Adam whispered after several minutes.

"I know for a fact that wouldn't have wanted to see that," Clare replied yawning.

"They're there, Clare. He's denying it, you're denying it. Stop denying it."

"Well there's Declan now and I really like him."

"I can tell," Adam nodded. "But like I told Eli. Liking two people at once isn't uncommon."

"True, Clare shrugged. "Can we talk about this in the morning?"

"Yes, along with your plan to get me a girl….Clare? Oh come on. Fell asleep mid conversation again."


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you so much for continuing to read and review this story! I'm happy to keep writing this for all of you and although school has already stressed me out, writing this keeps me sane and whenever I need a break from school work, I try to write as much as I can. :) Thank you all so so so much. I cannot even express enough how amazed and thankful I am for all of you amazing readers and reviewers.**

**Tweet me at hereinyourarms_ for sneak peeks and the inside to what's going on in my life. Or Tumblr at onlyhereinyourarms**

**I thought I'd focus on other characters as well, making this more of an ensemble story rather than Eclare.**

**The New Girl pilot is on iTunes now for free download and I've seen it. It's SO GOOD. It puts this story and everything I've ever written to shame. Zooey Deschanel is perfection and it's just so good. I got inspired from that in some aspects of this chapter so if you've already seen it, you'll see what. Seriously, watch this show once it's out. Premieres Sept. 20. You will NOT regret it. Also, watch Terra Nova when that comes out. Landon Liboiron is in it. He is beautiful.**

**P.S. Yes, I'm evil. I'm fully aware. **

**Thanks for reading! Please review!**

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><p>Adam was taking forever. It was as if Adam were her child. Clare waited in the kitchen, sipping on a mug of coffee, already dressed to go to work but Adam was taking a long time, as usual. Clare had to be at work by 10 but deliberately told Adam that she had to be there at 9:30. It was currently 9:25 and Adam seemed not to care about Clare's need not to be late for work. It was the day after her date with Declan and that also meant the morning after Adam confessed to Eli about Imogen. Clare was dreading seeing Eli again but it was inevitable. She'd have to see him at some point.<p>

She was just glad that Eli left early in the morning and—

"Oh."

Clare jumped, some coffee spilling out of her mug, when she heard a voice behind her. She had her back to the doorway of the kitchen but she knew who it was even though she couldn't see him. Eli was there and it seemed that they were going to have this conversation earlier than she had pictured.

"Um…good morning," Clare greeted softly, still not turning around. "Coffee's in the pot."

"Thanks," Eli said behind her and she heard him pouring his own cup.

Clare kept the mug to her lips and drank her coffee softly, wishing for Eli to just walk out the kitchen. She hadn't thought of what to say when this moment came. Hell, she didn't even know if Eli believed Adam or not. Chances are he didn't but the idea was in his mind, no matter if he thought it was true or not.

"How was your date?" Eli cleared his throat dryly and asked her.

Clare still hadn't looked at him. "Great," she answered truthfully. "Declan's a great guy."

"Good to hear," Eli replied. "Sorry I was rude to you when you got home…Adam and I…"

"Yeah, you said you guys got into a fight but you never said about what," Clare said tentatively. She finally turned her head to him, their eyes meeting, and as much as Clare wanted to turn away she couldn't. His eyes were too captivating, even if they were many feet away.

"I would think that he'd tell you what it was about," Eli pointed out.

"He did," Clare sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, I know it must be hard—"

"He's being ridiculous," Eli cut Clare off and her face dropped mid sentence. He didn't believe Adam. "Making up lies like that. I could tell that he never liked Imogen but I never thought he'd stoop that low. And he brought you into it too, it's just—"

"Eli, listen—"

"Imogen wouldn't do that to me," Eli looked down at his cup and ran his finger around the glass. His voice was solemn, almost rehearsed, maybe even with a hint of lying? Clare couldn't be sure though. She didn't know him that well yet and wasn't used to deciphering the truth from the lies. "She loves me and I love her. We're good."

Eli forced a smile on his face and walked out of the kitchen and Clare heard his bedroom door closing. So he didn't believe Adam and is still thinking that Imogen was faithful to him. Clare felt guilty, knowing Eli had to find out sooner rather than later, but as she's said before, he wouldn't believe her. Especially since he hadn't believed Adam either.

Clare took out her phone and checked her texts, seeing if any of the messages or pictures Owen had sent her over the last few days could help. None of them showed Imogen's face and Eli certainly wouldn't believe just a text. Clare prayed that Owen would be stupid enough to text her a picture of him and Imogen with her face clearly in it or even just tell her where they were for the night so she could drag Eli there. But that day didn't seem to be coming soon.

"Okay I'm ready! Do I look newspaper-y enough?"

Clare glanced over to Adam and saw him wearing a gray dress shirt, a black tie, dark jeans, and his hair a mess. Clare smiled and fixed her tie slightly and said, "You look great. You do know you won't be working there, just visiting right?"

"I know but you said there'd be girls there so I wanted to look presentable. It's not too much, is it?" Adam tugged at his tie again but Clare placed it back over his upper body.

"No, I think they would appreciate the fact that you didn't come strolling in from the street and you actually made an effort to fit in," Clare assured him. "You'll be fine. I think I have an idea of who'll catch your eye but I'll let you figure it out on your own."

"Then let's stop wasting time!" Adam grabbed Clare's arm, like the night they went to the club, and Clare was dragged out of the apartment.

* * *

><p>"It's more boring than I imagined."<p>

"What did you imagine? It's a newspaper."

"I was expecting people running around in a frenzy, lots of typing going on, people on phones, large dry erase boards," Adam said as he looked around. "It's tame."

"Yeah well…" Clare stuck a note onto her cork board that she kept on the wall of her cubicle and walked over to a cabinet, bringing out a file.

"Hey Clare, here are the tickets for that concert you have to cover," a blonde haired girl, in dressy pants and a blazer, appeared at Clare's cubicle and Clare went over to her, smiling.

"Thanks Katie," Clare said and walked back to her seat.

"Who's this?" Katie gestured over to Adam, who was looking awkward standing still. Clare was amused that Adam seemed intimidated yet interested in her co-worker Katie.

"My new roommate Adam," Clare replied from her chair. "Adam, this is Katie."

"Nice to meet you," Katie brought out her hand to Adam and he took it slowly. Clare wanted to laugh at Adam's mesmerized face but knew that that wouldn't help at all. She was supposed to be his wingman after all. "Clare, I didn't know you moved."

"Yeah, moved out of my place with Owen. Long story. But now I live with Adam and two other guys."

Katie raised a brow. "Three guys and a girl. Sounds like a nightmare."

"It's not too bad," Clare told her honestly. "Adam here has been making it great. I told him I'd show him around the office one day and that day would be today. Didn't realize how much work I had to do. Do you mind…showing him around for a few minutes?"

"No, not at all," Katie smiled brightly and beckoned Adam to follow her and once Katie stepped out of the cubicle, Adam turned to Clare with his jaw dropped.

"Her?" he mouthed, pointing out with his finger.

Clare nodded and urged him to go follow and he fixed his tie, shirt, and hair before giving Clare a thumbs up and walking out. Clare laughed to herself as she turned back to her computer.

After typing up and researching a few things, Clare didn't realize that an hour had passed and Adam had yet to return. She saved her files and walked out, went down a few cubicles and found Katie's empty. Turning around she went straight to the lunch room and found the two of them eating snacks from the vending machine and laughing.

"So, what's going on here?" Clare asked curiously, her grin turning to the side as Adam blushed.

"Oh nothing, Adam was just telling me a funny story," Katie answered simply. She glanced at her watch and stood up immediately. "Oh, wow, where did time go? I should get back to work. I have a lot to do before I meet up with Drew later."

"Drew? I thought you guys broke up," Clare said confused.

"Yeah but he says he wants to talk so I agreed to going out for a drink. I'm in no means thinking of getting back together but he asked and I just accepted," Katie pushed her chair back in and Clare glanced over at Adam, who was now in a state of shock it seemed.

"Adam, are you okay?" Clare was quickly concerned since she'd never seen that face on Adam before. It was like he'd seen a ghost.

"You're Katie…" Adam stated, getting up from his seat slowly.

"Yes," Katie laughed and looked back and forth between Clare and Adam. "And that's Clare, and you're Adam."

"Torres," Adam gulped. "Adam Torres. I'm—"

"Drew's…brother," Katie finally realized and now all three of them had shocked faces.

* * *

><p>"How the hell are there so many fucking coincidences between all of us?" Adam was ranting and ranting as Clare was driving to a restaurant. After Adam found out the news, he sat in Clare's cubicle quietly for the rest of Clare's shifts and Clare became concerned at his quietness. She texted Eli and Jake to meet up with them for dinner so they could help out with Adam, not giving them any information, but it seemed at now Adam was at the freaking out verbally stage.<p>

"First of all, you and Jake have known each other for years, Eli's girlfriend is your ex's mistress, Eli is in love with y-, I mean your book, and now, now there's you knowing Katie who happens to be my brother's ex that I've never met and only heard about and I fucking _like_ her! What is this?"

"Can you take a breath?" Clare asked cautiously. "Seriously Adam, I mean it is a little freaky but it's just coincidence. And wait, you said you like Katie?"

"Yes!" Adam sighed angrily. "She's smart, she's cute, she's funny, she likes sports, and she likes tacos. Wait, fuck, Drew likes tacos. Ahhhh."

Clare burst out laughing, trying not to close her eyes as she drove but Adam's craziness was amusing her too much now. She couldn't wait for Jake and Eli to see Adam this way. She didn't know if they've seen this side of Adam before but she knew they'd be amused no matter what.

As Adam continued to rant, Clare finally pulled up to the restaurant and quickly found Eli and Jake already waiting at a table. Adam stormed off to the bathroom, wanting to take off his "damn tie", and Clare rushed over to the table and said, "You will never guess what happened today."

"Adam found a girl?" Jake asked.

"Adam found a _cute_ girl?" was Eli's guess.

"Actually yes," Clare laughed. "Her name is Katie and she works at the paper. But you'll never guess what happened."

"Adam threw up on her," Eli guessed and Clare looked at him with a disgusted and not amused face. "Hey, I'm throwing out guesses! Must be some weird thing since you said Adam was freaking out bad."

"Katie and Adam were hitting it off right? And then Katie mentions that she's meeting up with Drew, her ex, to talk and Adam looked completely shocked. Then he says that he's a Torres and we find out, boom!" Clare gestured an explosion with her hands. "Adam likes his brother's ex girlfriend."

Jake and Eli's eyes were open extremely wide and then Jake said, "Oh shit. That's not good."

"Drew and Adam have _never_ liked the same girl," Eli reminisced. "This won't be good."

"_I know_," Clare said. "But Adam, holy crap, is he taking this crazy. He was freaking out in the car. How can we calm him down?"

"We don't, we let him vent, that's what Adam needs," Eli said seriously. "If he doesn't get it out then it'll just manifest inside and explode."

"Okay well we're gonna have to keep reminding him to lower his voice because I do not want to draw attention here," Clare said, looking around the packed restaurant. "Adam's taking off his tie in the bathroom, he says he's never wearing a tie again, which is weird since it looks good—"

Clare lost her train of thought as she saw something across the restaurant that she couldn't help but be shocked at. It was Imogen Moreno with a dark haired man. No, it wasn't Owen. It was some other guy and Clare didn't recognize him. He was good looking though, there was no doubt about that. _Was Imogen really cheating on Eli with more than one guy?_

Clare snapped back to reality when Adam angrily pushed back his chair, making a screeching noise which Clare winced at, and he plopped down in his seat with his tie in his hand.

"Damn tie," he mumbled. "Damn Drew. Damn Katie. Damn you all."

"Yeah, we love you too," Eli said sarcastically.

"I like her," Adam said through his hands. His words were muffled but they knew what he was saying. "Who knew Drew would like a girl who wants to be a journalist."

"They broke up," Clare reminded Adam, her eyes still partially on Imogen across the room. "You have a shot."

"Not when Katie is Drew's ex, I don't. Unless I get a go for it from Drew, I can't do anything. Guy code."

"I can't believe you guys actually follow a 'guy code'," Clare rolled her eyes. "What's included with the guy code?"

"Don't take each other's food," Jake said.

Clare rolled her eyes. "What else?"

"Not flaunt obviously better guns," Jake added, lifting his arm and kissing his 'muscles'.

Clare narrowed her eyes at Jake. She's noticed Jake's confidence and knew that if it were any other girl, they'd mistake his confidence for cockiness, even douchebaggery.

"I have an idea, and I'm pretty sure I can make off of this. You guys up for a challenge?" Clare placed her arms over the table and looked at all three guys, a conniving look on her face.

"Of course," Eli, who sat directly in front of her, looked her straight in the eye. Clare felt slightly intimidated as Eli looked at her, his gaze soft yet serious.

"Every time you guys say something that is so completely…cocky or questionable or utterly ridiculous about yourself or to a girl around my presence, or the other guys, whatever, you guys put a dollar into a jar," Clare explained.

Adam raised a brow. "So…like a swear jar…but for…douchebags?"

"Exactly!" Clare pointed her finger. "We'll call it the douchebag jar. Pretty sure Jake will be putting half of his savings into this jar and I will be rich."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Jake said quickly, offended. "What are you saying? I'm a douche?"

"Sometimes," Clare replied honestly. "The stuff you say, you should really not be saying in public. Or at all. Plus the fact that you don't even wear a shirt half the time we're at home."

"That's because it's my home," Jake pointed to himself. "And I happen to look good so why not flaunt it?"

"Jar," Eli rolled his eyes. "Better find a big jar Clare. Jake will fill it by the end of the week."

"Hey, what about you? You were full of yourself before Clare came along in the apartment. Mr. 'I have a model girlfriend'," Jake spat back at Eli. Eli's face turned red and Clare bit her lip. She was confused. Did Eli stop acting that way because of her arrival and why was Jake so quick to put down Eli?

"Yeah Eli, you were kinda just shoving that in our face," Adam added.

"Wow, is it gang up on Eli at one time night?" Eli said bitterly. "You guys suck."

Clare heard loud laughing from the other side of the room and her eyes gravitated there again and now, Imogen sat even closer to the guy she was with.

"Eli…I—"

"Shit, Eli, is that Imogen?"

Before Clare could say anything, Jake was the one to point out to Eli that Imogen was in the restaurant. Eli's head turned her direction and Clare was expecting anger to flow out from Eli but instead, he was smiling.

"That's Imogen's brother," Eli said. "Imogen said he'd be visiting for a few days."

_Oh…so she wasn't cheating…right now_.

Clare's face fell as she saw the opportunity for Eli to see Imogen's true nature slip away. She was so close to Eli finding out the truth but no, this wasn't a good one. She felt like a douchebag accusing Imogen so quickly of cheating with another guy that she made a mental note to drop a dollar into her not-yet-made jar.

"Oh," Clare said to mask what she was really feeling.

"Didn't know they were coming here, excuse me," Eli walked away from the table and Clare watched as Imogen's face lit up at the sight of Eli coming towards her. Imogen hugged and kissed Eli and Clare felt her stomach stir at them kiss.

"I'm guessing I wasn't the only one who thought Imogen was out with someone else," Jake pertained to Clare.

Clare picked up one of the breadsticks in the middle of the table and angrily ripped off a piece. "I thought we had her," she mumbled and put the piece of bread in her mouth. Her words became muffled. "I thought he'd see her cheating. I thought it was our shot."

"We'll get her eventually," Adam assured Clare. "Someone cheating can't keep up a charade forever."

"Why can't he just believe us," Clare whined like a little girl. "Uhhhh."

"Wide range of vocabulary you have," Jake teased.

"50 cents into the douchebag jar. You're up to a dollar and a half," Clare said to him.

"Are we actually being serious about this?"

"Like a heartattack. I have an extra jar we can use. This will become a thing."

"Well you're gonna have to participate," Jake sat back in his seat. "We're not the only ones who act like douchebags."

"I know," Clare said sadly. "I feel terrible for just jumping to conclusions with Imogen right now."

"I was kidding," Jake said slowly.

"I'm not," Clare pouted. "I feel really bad."

Adam laughed. "Only you would feel bad about wanting to catch your roommate's girlfriend cheating and being wrong about it."

"What if she's not even with Owen anymore?" Clare asked, mindlessly stirring the straw in her water.

"That doesn't change the fact that she has cheated on him," Adam said. "Eli will find out and believe the truth soon enough."

"Yeah, _soon enough_."

* * *

><p>Clare, Jake, and Adam had dinner together while Eli stayed with Imogen and her brother. He hadn't even come back to the three. Once they finished their dinner, all three of them went back to the apartment and decided to have a movie marathon with each of their favorites.<p>

Clare was being stuck with watching Inception, Jake's choice, and The Dark Knight, Adam's choice. So she chose the most typical chick flick she could. Titanic.

But she didn't tell Jake or Adam that she actually loved both The Dark Knight and Inception. She just wanted to torture them both.

As Jake and Adam were getting set up for the movie marathon, bringing the junk food into the living room and moving the reclining chair and coffee table closer to the bigger couch, Clare was sitting on the couch with the glass jar and a piece of construction paper.

She wrote "Douchebag Jar" onto it neatly and taped it into the inside of the jar. "Aha!" she exclaimed once she finished. She set it onto the side table beside the couch. "The Douchebag Jar is now open. Mr. Martin, I believe you have some money to put in."

"Whatever," Jake mumbled as he took out some coins and a bill from his wallet and deposited it into the jar. "Am I really…like that?"

"Yes," Adam and Clare answered at the same time.

"Fine! I'll prove you guys wrong!" Jake, now in his pajamas and a v-neck, sat in the chair and adjusted his plaid blanket over his legs, at the ready to press play on the movie. Once Adam situated himself on the couch beside Clare, the movie marathon began.

"_What if we could actually manipulate dreams like that?"_

"_You guys would NOT want to be in my dreams."_

"_Why?"_

"_Clare…really?"_

"…_oh. Ew!"_

After Inception, they popped in Titanic to balance out the two intense action movies. But since Titanic was a considerably long movie, they ended up fast forwarding through many parts.

"_That Cal guy is ugly. Pretty sure if I were Cal, Rose wouldn't even look at Jack."_

"_Jake. Jar. Now."_

"_That wasn't even rude."_

"_You're insulting my movie. Dollar."_

"_Fine. Jeez."_

"_Did you guys know that when Kate Winslet found out that Leonardo Dicaprio would be her co-star, the first thing she did was flash him?"_

"_Seriously?"_

"_Now THAT is my kind of girl."_

"_Jake."_

"_Dammit. I'm gonna be poor by tomorrow."_

Finally, around 1 o'clock in the morning and Eli having yet to return, they played The Dark Knight. Adam was so engaged in the movie that he didn't even notice Clare and Jake throwing popcorn into each other's mouths at a three feet distance from each other. Some pieces even hit the side of Adam's face but he didn't even budge from the movie.

Clare, Jake, and Adam all jumped when the front door opened hastily and Eli, disheveled and breathing hard, walked through and slammed the door closed. He was hurrying to his room with no word and when Clare noticed Eli swiping his hand under his eye, she had realized that he had been crying.

"Eli wait," Clare said quickly and ran after him.

"No, leave me alone," Eli mumbled and walked even faster away.

Clare caught Eli's arm but he quickly pulled it away. He stormed into his room and shut the door before Clare could get there and she jumped back before the door hit her. Clare was about to knock on the door when she realized she probably should not get in his face. She didn't know what happened and when Eli was ready, he'd tell her.

Did he find out? That would be the only logical reason he would be upset. But Clare wouldn't jump to conclusions. She'd wait for him.

"Did he say anything?" Jake asked when Clare went back into the living room.

"No but I'm going to wait for him outside his door," Clare said while grabbing her blanket.

"You're going to wait outside his door? You know you live with him right? He can find you in his room if he needs you," Jake reminded her, a little put off by the idea.

"Well I just want to be there as soon as he wants me to be there," Clare said. "I'll read for a little while and if he still doesn't call me, I'll go to sleep in my room. But I'm concerned. Eli doesn't seem like the type to just cry."

"Clare, there's always the morning," Adam pressed.

"I want to be there for him, is that such a crime?" Clare asked and just walked away. She grabbed a book from her desk and sat beside Eli's door, trying to listen to anything inside his room. It was silent. So she flipped open her book and started reading.

* * *

><p>"Clare. Wake up. Hey, Clare."<p>

Clare stirred awake and found herself sleeping on the floor in an awkward position. She felt her slippers still on her feet and her arm twisted weird to provide for her a pillow. She was also in the hallway and she looked around confused but then found Eli crouching down to her. His eyes were still red and damp and Clare sat up quickly and asked, "What happened?"

Eli almost smiled, the side of his mouth arching up only slightly. "Did you fall asleep here just to make sure I was okay?"

"Yeah, I guess I did," Clare scratched her head and said. "So?"

Eli sighed sadly and helped Clare up from the floor. He helped her into his room where he plopped back down on his bed and gestured for Clare to sit beside his laying body. She sat there and noticed that the framed picture of him and Imogen that usually laid there on his table was flipped down so the picture couldn't be seen.

"It was all true," Eli said with no emotion. "Imogen…cheating…she, the guy, the guy was in Imogen's apartment when we went there. She tried hiding him from me but I heard something in the closet. But I saw him. Big guy, shaggy hair, tall. Knew right away, Adam was correct. Imogen has been cheating and…he also said you knew."

"I did," Clare admitted. "But neither Jake nor Adam thought you'd believe me or anyone…which you didn't."

"I know," Eli pressed his head further into his pillow. "I know."

"I'm sorry," Clare said honestly. "I don't know how much help I can be but I can be there to hold your hand, make you food, and I guess be there for you?" Clare kept running her thumb over the back of Eli's hand. He didn't move at all and kept staring blankly at the ceiling. She sighed defeated. "I'll be in my room if you need me, okay?"

Eli nodded a bit and Clare cupped Eli's hand with both of hers comfortingly and made her way out of his room. She sat down on her own bed, replaying the moment in her mind. Eli found out the truth on his own and Clare knew that it must've killed him inside like it did her.

She wondered if it was Owen he caught her with. Since Eli had no idea what Owen looked like, it possibly could have been. And she wondered if Owen knew Imogen was dating someone else, or did Owen not care? Clare was ready to get ready for bed and forget what happened until someone knocked on her door. She kicked off her slippers first and slowly managed to walk over to the door and open it.

"I need you," Eli breathed shakily.

Clare stared at him for a moment and did not see the next thing coming.


	7. Chapter 7

**This chapter is kind of to show all of you how this isn't a dramatic story. Sure there's dramatic parts but you'll see, there's a lot more of the funny/comedic parts. Sorry for the wait. School has seriously taken my time away to write, plus when I do have time to write I'm exhausted and can't give chapters my full attention. Thank you all for continuing to read and review!**

**I gotta say...I love the first part of this chapter.**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**

* * *

><p>Eli walked in swiftly, grabbing Clare by the waist and kissing her. His hold on her was so strong that she couldn't shake it away and after a second, she didn't want to. Slowly, her arms went around his neck as Eli kissed her deeply and slowly.<p>

Clare turned her head slightly so they could kiss more comfortably and in the process, Eli managed to snake his tongue into her mouth and the kiss turned fiery and dominating. One of Eli's hands snaked up and took a hold of the back of her head and pulled her closer, if that was even possible.

Clare couldn't think. Eli was kissing her and she felt everything in her body firing up. This was way more than a spark, this was _fire_, and they definitely had it. It was way more than anything she felt with Declan, or even Owen. She's never been kissed like _this _before. Eli's hands on her waist was burning her skin, in a good way, and she was enjoying the feeling of Eli's hair between her fingers.

"Oh God, I've been waiting for so long to do that," Eli groaned after separating their lips for a second, until he leaned back in for another. Clare quickly complied and pulled at Eli's hair slightly, earning a moan from him. With that moan came a more tightened grip from Eli's hold on Clare.

Clare felt Eli's hands go to cup her face and suddenly, the kiss turned slow. Their lips moved slowly and almost hesitantly against each other's. They pulled away at the same time with their eyes closed still and they stayed there, foreheads pressed against each others.

"That was…" Eli began breathlessly.

"Really something," Clare continued, her chest heaving.

"I…I know that you and Declan are dating but there was a chance and I had to take it," Eli admitted, licking his lips slowly.

He looked her directly in the eye and as usual, Clare felt weak from it. _This_ was the closest she's been to Eli's eyes and even though the surrounding area was red, his green eyes were bright and striking. Clare's room was dark except for the hallway light coming in through her open door.

With a final peck to Clare's lips, Eli pulled away and walked backwards towards the door, his eyes on her the entire time. "Goodnight," he said with a small smile and closed the door behind him.

Clare stood dumbfounded in her spot, touching her lips with the tips of her fingers and still feeling the tingling. She thought of nothing else as she mindlessly got ready to sleep and her last thought of the night was how green Eli's eyes looked, along with how red they were from his crying.

* * *

><p>"So I was the rebound?"<p>

"Well, technically but I never saw it that way."

"To be honest, you were kind of my rebound too."

"So no hard feelings?"

"None."

"Good."

"Bye Clare."

"Bye Declan."

Clare laughed as she hung up her phone. She was going to call Declan the same time her phone rang and he called her. She wanted to tell him that she had no romantic feelings for him, even though he was a great guy. But he beat her too it when he called, saying he met back up with his ex and they were going to get back together. Declan didn't want to officially get back together with his ex until he made things right with Clare and Clare appreciated it. He was a good guy.

Clare got ready for the day, noticing none of the guys were up yet, and kept eyeing Eli's door when she got near it. She wanted to knock on the door and see him but she didn't. Instead she went about her morning and did her hair, got dressed, and started to eat breakfast.

As she ate her food slowly and carefully, her mind wandered to what happened that night. Eli finally found Imogen in the act and tried to remember the words he said. He only said that she cheated, not anything more. _What if Eli didn't actually break up with her? What if he wanted her back? No, that can't be right, he kissed me last night. But he was upset. Was that just some kind of rebound thing?_

She didn't want to be the rebound. And now her first kiss with Eli happened right after finding out the truth about Imogen. Eli didn't know what he was doing, his emotions were rampant, and no way did the kiss between the two mean anything other than this was Eli trying to mask what he was feeling.

Clare got up and put away the orange juice in the fridge and stared at all the food, making a list in her mind of what to buy on her next trip to the grocery store. _Milk, eggs, that girly juice Jake likes…_

She shut the fridge door closed and jumped when she saw Eli was beside the fridge, leaning against the counter, having been concealed and quiet the entire time.

"What the he—"

"Hello to you too," Eli cut her off with a smile. "Sleep well?"

"Honestly know since I slept for like, 4 hours and now you just gave me a myocardial infarction," Clare held a hand to her heart to calm it as she walked back to her seat at the kitchen table.

"Uh…"

"Heart attack," Clare clarified.

"Then why couldn't you just say heart attack?"

"Because I was reading a medical report yesterday and that's what it said and I looked it up and-, you know what? Never mind."

Eli took the seat on the opposite side of the table and he looked at her concerned. "Did I do something wrong?" he asked hesitantly.

Clare wanted to just throw herself at him. She was undoubtedly attracted to this guy who saved her life and loved her book. She wanted to be his and him to be hers but there was no way that could happen right now. She wanted to just throw middle fingers in Imogen's face indirectly by dating Eli but Clare didn't want to be the rebound. She wanted to be his number one and know he wanted her because of her, not because he was just cheated on. She wanted desperately to throw her morals out the window but she couldn't shake that off.

"Last night…" Clare sighed.

"Oh yeah, thanks for…being there for me" Eli said honestly but then smirked after. "Really, you were just the person I wanted to see."

Clare shut her eyes and held her head down. "I'm not," Clare said slowly. She couldn't make herself look up at him. She had a hard time putting together her words anyways. "I don't want to be the girl you use to get over Imogen."

"You're not," Eli said. "I'm over her."

"I know you wish that was true, but it's not," Clare replied. "You were crying over her last night. When you kissed me, I could feel the dampness on your face. You can't just get over someone who cheated on you that quickly."

"You did," Eli pointed out. Then his face changed. "Wait…Adam said Imogen was cheating with…your ex so that was—"

"Owen," Clare confirmed. "Yup."

Eli stood up from the table and walked around the kitchen, his arms behind his head. He looked like he was trying to control his angry face and finally he slammed his fists down on the granite counter. Clare jumped as the sound echoed a bit and she knew this action just confirmed what she was thinking. He wasn't over it at all.

"I'm sorry," Eli shook his head and rubbed his hands together. "That it happened to you."

"That's in the past," Clare told him. "But it's still haunting. You just found out yesterday. You're not okay."

"Don't tell me how I feel," Eli's tone was getting a little angry and Clare raised an eyebrow. "You keep telling me that I'm not over it. How do you know? How could you possibly know how I feel?"

"Because I went through it," Clare stood up from her seat to defend herself. "Even now I'm not okay. I went out with Declan to try to forget and it worked…for a bit…but in the back of my mind I kept thinking that maybe Declan will end up hurting me too. It still hurts but I don't show it. And you just found out yesterday and had the audacity to make out with me in the middle of the night because you were upset? That was _not_ how I imagined our first kiss to be, because you were heartbroken over someone else."

Eli rubbed his eyes. "I didn't kiss you because of that, I kissed you because…wait, you said you didn't imagine our first kiss to be like that which means you've thought about it!"

"No!" Clare said quickly. "That's not what I meant!"

"Yes, yes it is," Eli was pointing his finger at her. "You've thought about it!"

"Stop changing the subject!"

"I don't blame you though, it must be tough to live with me and _not_ think of kissing me."

Clare made a face. "You're beginning to sound like Jake with every passing day."

"I was kidding, Clare."

"And I'm not," she said seriously. "This…us…it can't happen. Not when you're still upset about Imogen."

"I'm _not_ upset," Eli repeated himself.

"But you will be," Clare said. "When she calls you, when you find something or hers, when the littlest thing makes you think about her. I thought I was fine but then I downed an entire carton of ice cream a few days ago. I'm not fine. Neither are you."

Eli stared at her for a few seconds, looking hurt, and walked out of the kitchen without a word. Adam came into the kitchen just a second later, looking back at Eli, and then to Clare with a confused face. "Did I miss something?" Adam asked weirdly.

"He kissed me last night," Clare answered. "And I kissed him back. But he found out that Imogen was cheating, that's why he was upset when he got home. And I told him I didn't want to be his rebound."

"Uh…" Adam processed the information and finally said, "That's crazy."

"Yeah," Clare breathed. "What do you think?"

"Were you telling him what he was feeling as if you knew?"

"N-no."

"Clare."

"I just kept telling him that he's not over it," Clare shrugged her shoulders. "Because he's not. He can't be."

"While I agree about that," Adam took a seat where Eli sat. "You can't just tell him that and expect him to just agree. He's wallowing in his own way. Eli's not the type of guy to focus on his feelings, he'd rather just forget it and move on."

"But I don't want to be the girl he uses to do that," Clare said sadly.

"And I'm sure Eli wouldn't want to hurt you either," Adam put a hand over Clare's. "There's no win in this situation."

"There's no win in my life," Clare mumbled as she walked out of the kitchen. She grabbed her shoes and tote and headed on her way to her first class of the day. But before she left, she passed by the jar which had at least 4 dollars in it already. She took out a dollar, ready to deposit it for her acting this morning, when a hand brushed hers and put in a dollar itself.

Eli was beside her putting the dollar into the jar and they looked at each other briefly before Eli walked away again. Clare then put her dollar inside the jar and closed it. "This might just be the best idea I ever had," she said to herself as she eyed the jar. Then she closed the door behind her, ready to make this world disappear for a few hours as she went to school.

* * *

><p>After finishing her only class of the day, Clare lazily walked into the apartment, threw her keys into the bowl beside the door and got a water bottle. She noticed that the living room TV was on and she got confused. She thought no one would be home at this time, seeing as she had a list of everyone's schedule.<p>

As she made her way towards her room, a door opened in the other hallway and Clare immediately covered her eyes as she shrieked. "OH MY GOD!"

While her eyes were covered by both hands, she heard scrambling and slamming into doors and a pained groan and finally a door closing. Clare peeked through her fingers and saw that Jake's door was closed and she sighed in relief but couldn't get that picture out of her mind.

Jake had come out of his room, completely naked, and Clare saw everything. Even when Jake turned around in a frenzy to get away. She had seen more than she ever wanted of him. Even his impressive and chiseled abs couldn't make up for the uncomfortable moment.

Clare stepped into her room and shivered violently and erratically, not knowing why but she wished she could just shake off what just happened.

"Clare, open the door!"

"No!" Clare shouted. Her cheeks were still red after being flustered and she just didn't want to see him even though she knew he was probably clothed.

"Come on, just open the door."

"NO."

"Fine. I'll be out here. Anya left so—"

That got Clare to open the door quickly. "What?"

"Well that got you to open the door," Jake teased. He had shorts on now, still no shirt, and walked into Clare's room and sat on her bed.

"What?" Clare whined. "Can we not do this right now?"

"No, we're doing this right now. Sorry you had to see that, I was…uh—"

"You really don't need to go into detail," Clare said uncomfortably. "What are you doing home? I thought you had class."

"The professor canceled," Jake answered. "And I stayed home."

"Obviously," Clare rolled her eyes. "Look, we'll just forget this happened. I saw nothing."

"_Nothing?_" Jake wiggled his eyebrows and Clare pointed out her door.

"Go put your savings into that jar," Clare said annoyed.

"What's up with you today?" Jake said, now making himself comfortable on Clare's bed. Then he patted the free space on the bed and Clare rolled her eyes and made her way there. She made herself comfortable beside Jake on her bed, bringing over one of her girly pillows to clutch to her chest.

"Did you hear what happened with Eli?" Clare asked.

"No, I slept in pretty late and when I got up everyone was gone. Why, what happened last night?"

Clare went into the entire story, from Eli's late night crying and saying that he saw Owen in the apartment, to the surprise kiss, to the awkward morning. Clare didn't even take the breath the entire time and by the time the explanation was over, she had to take a deep, long breath. Finally she looked at Jake.

"I did not follow _any_ of that," he admitted.

Clare smacked him in the arm, hard. "And you didn't think to stop me?"

"I'm _kidding,_" Jake laughed. "Of course I followed all of it. For one thing, I think you're right about the rebound thing. You and Eli should not get together."

Clare raised her brow. "I never said that Eli and I shouldn't be together. Just not while he's still hung up on Imogen."

Clare could tell that Jake was hiding something, but she couldn't be sure what. The hesitance in his facial expression was not reassuring and she had no guesses as to what it could be. But she chose to ignore it for now.

"How about we do something fun?" Jake suggested, changing the subject. "Maybe we could get a pet."

"A pet? Seriously?" Clare asked. "I doubt a dog would be good to have in an apartment."

"We don't need to get a dog. We could get a hamster, or a snake, or fish. This place needs more than just us."

Clare actually did like this idea. She thought it would be nice to have something other than 3 guys to come home to. "No snake though," Clare scrunched her face.

"Deal," Jake said. And they were off to the pet store.

* * *

><p>"Could we actually buy a pet without telling either of them?" Clare asked while browsing through the store. They had already passed the fish and the parrots and neither of them wanted either. "What if Adam and Eli hates it?"<p>

"Then they move out," Jake replied as he stared into a display. "How about a ferret?"

"Oh yeah, we can call it Bueller," Clare said sarcastically. She walked away from that open display where Jake was cooing to the animals and found herself staring at a cute group of bunnies.

She crouched down to the display and one bunny walked over to the edge of the cage, sticking it nose out and Clare touched it softly and immediately fell in love. It had the whitest skin part from faint brown spots on its back. The bunny stood on its hind legs to reach Clare's finger as she lifted her finger up and she awed.

"Oh no," Jake said behind her. "Not a bunny."

"Why not? It's so cute," Clare said in a childish voice. "Look at it."

Jake knelt down side Clare and sighed as he looked at the bunny. "Okay fine, it's cute," he admitted and then cleared his throat. "You want it?"

"Yes," Clare stated. "That one will be mine."

"I'll pay for it, I need to make up for that incident earlier."

"Didn't realize seeing you naked would result in receiving a free bunny but hey, I'll take it."

"You know, I don't mind buying you several pets. If you—"

"Stop. Now."

* * *

><p>Clare set up the bunny cage in the living room, putting it on top of one of the low cabinets, and it had a water dispenser plus its food in a corner of the cage. She opened the top of the cage and lifted the bunny into her hands and held it close to her face, feeling it rub its nose close to mouth.<p>

"Oh, so you don't want to kiss me but you'd kiss a rabbit."

Clare turned around and saw Eli, amused and tired-looking, just putting his stuff on the couch and taking his jacket off. Clare walked over to him and showed him the bunny and Eli started to pet it.

"When did you get him?" Eli asked. Clare felt his fingers brush against hers and tingles ran up her arm.

"Jake and I got _her_ earlier today," Clare answered. "Her name is Reynolds."

"Reynolds? Why?"

"The Breakfast Club. My favorite was Allison Reynolds."

"So why not name is Allison?"

"I thought everyone would like Reynolds better…since it's not so girly."

Eli smirked. "I like it. But what made you get a pet?"

"Jake suggested we get one and he got it for me because—nevermind. He just wanted to get me one," Clare said. She went to put Reynolds back in her cage.

"Oh," Eli said slowly. "So…Jake…got it for you."

"Yeah," Clare turned around. "Nice of him, right?"

Eli cleared his throat. "Oh yeah. Real nice." He smiled a small smile and awkwardly walked away, giving one last glance to Clare as he walked down to his room and Clare was going to go after him, explain to him how she felt, but the front door opened loudly and closed.

Adam looked completely disheveled and sweaty and Clare raised a brow. "What happened to you?"

"Katie asked me to dinner," Adam answered.

"Really?" Clare asked excitedly. "Wait…what about—"

"Is that a bunny?" Adam ran over to the cage and pressed his face against the cage. "Boy or girl?"

"Girl. Adam, tell me what happened?"

"What's its name?"

"Reynolds. Come on Adam!"

"When'd you get it?"

Clare hit Adam's shoulder. "Adam! Details!"

"I was getting food from that store around your work and she was there too. And she asked me to dinner and I said yes. Then I ran back here. So when'd you get it?"

Clare rolled her eyes and hugged Adam. "Congrats on your date. And I got her today."

"Well it's about time we got a pet. I bet this one'll smell better than Jake and Eli anyways."

Clare started laughing and said, "So when's your date?"

Adam's head shot up from the cage and he looked at the nearest clock. "Crap! I have to get ready!"

Clare watched as Adam ran to his room and passed by Eli. Eli looked back at Adam, laughing, and then looked at Clare. He looked like he wanted to say something but instead he just walked into the kitchen. Clare sighed and followed him to the kitchen. "Eli, can I talk to you for a second?"


	8. Chapter 8

**I guess it's official…this will be updated (hopefully) every weekend. Please keep the reviews and tweets and messages on Twitter and Tumblr coming. I love hearing from you guys every which way!**

**Twitter: hereinyourarms_**

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**Did you guys watch the premiere of New Girl? Wasn't it great? If not, maybe it's on Hulu? I don't know, I haven't checked. But please watch it! It's such a good show!**

**This chapter shows more of Clare's friendships and tension between one friendship. I gave you guys this clue: "There'll be two dates in this chapter. One will be of Adam and Katie's date, the other will be…"**

**And now you'll see. Longest chapter so far! Thanks for reading! Please review!**

* * *

><p>Eli gestured to the dinner table and Clare took a seat in her usual chair while Eli sat in his. He held a cup of water in his hands and seemed to be gripping it in a death grip. Clare tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and finally said, "I…like you."<p>

Clare watched as Eli's hands and facial expression softened. "But," Clare continued and she could see Eli begin to be disappointed again. "I'm not ready to date anyone for real. Especially not my roommate."

"So if I move out…"

"_Eli._"

"I'm kidding," Eli laughed. "I understand. I thought about what you said and you were right. I'm not ready or okay yet. She called me earlier and I actually found myself wanting to forgive her. Crazy, right? I know I don't want to but that just goes to show how not okay I am."

Eli wasn't looking at her the entire time. His eyes were fixated on his glass as he spoke. Finally, he turned his head up and he had a small smile on his face.

"I don't regret kissing you but like you said, it was for a wrong reason. Are you always right?"

"Most of the time," Clare teased. "I don't regret kissing you either. It was…nice."

"I know," Eli crossed his arms behind his back slowly. "I'm a good kisser. Girls tell me all the time."

"Oh Eli's ego, nice to see you," Clare retorted while smirking. "I see you are alive and well."

The two were laughing as Adam walked into the kitchen, shirts in hand, and his hair a mess. Clare looked at him curiously, seeing some kind of binding peeking through the unbuttoned part of the shirt he had on already. The binding was up at his chest and Clare had no idea what it could be about. Maybe he had bruises or cuts there and is bandaging them up? Either way, Clare had no idea what Adam was saying as she saw his mouth moving.

"I'm sorry," she cut him off politely. "What were you saying?"

"Adam wants to know what shirt Katie would like better," Eli answered her.

Adam showed off the deep blue dress shirt he had in one hand and the green one he had in the other. Clare walked up to him and held both shirts against each of Adam's shoulders and examined the colors against his skin. Adam stood stiffly and gentlemanly, making Clare smile.

"The blue looks nice with your eyes," she told Adam. "Plus I know Katie's old soccer team had blue jerseys. Go with blue."

"You are…" Adam reached over and grabbed Clare's face, planting a big kiss on her cheek. "Perfect," he said, finishing his sentence. "No wonder I had no game before you came along! I needed help _from_ a girl!"

Adam ran off before Clare could respond but also came rushing back inside, bumping into Clare in the process. "Can you be there?" he asked hastily.

"At…your date?" Clare asked. "Isn't that a little weird?"

"No, I mean just be at the restaurant too," Adam clarified. "Just to make sure things are going well and if I need you, I can go over to you."

Clare scoffed. "Please, I'd rather not spend two hours alone looking like a loser at my own table at a full restaurant."

"Bring Eli," Adam suggested, his face lighting up at the idea. He turned over to Eli and said, "Come on dude. Please."

"Adam, you're begging me to take Clare out on a date, you're not really asking for much," Eli stood up from his seat and put his hands in his pockets. "If Clare's cool with it, I will be happy to be there to stake-out. Wait…you have to pay."

"Fine," Adam sighed.

"No, he doesn't have to pay, he's already going on a date," Clare butt in. "If I don't have to be alone then fine, I'll go. And Eli, you said so yourself, you're taking me out on a date, pretty sure we both know who'll be paying."

Clare tilted her head at Eli, putting her hands on her hips. She was simply kidding, teasing Eli to the fullest. But Eli lifted his head rolling his eyes slowly.

"You're lucky you're cute," he muttered under his laughter.

"This is just as friends though," Clare was quick to say. "No way, shape, or form is this an actual date."

"Oh of course not," Eli agreed smiling. "I already have our first date planned."

"Okay then, I think—wait!"

Eli ran out of the kitchen much like Adam did earlier, leaving Clare confused and dazed in the middle of the kitchen. _Did he say what I think he said?_ Clare knew what she heard come out from Eli's mouth but was her mind playing tricks on her? Adam's facial expression said otherwise.

"God, the sexual tension in this apartment," he said under his breath as he left the kitchen.

Clare stuck her tongue out at him as he left and finally looked down at her clothes that she had worn to school and to the pet store. It was definitely not dinner date material so she trudged back into her room and looked into her closet for something more formal. As she looked for a decent outfit, she heard commotion outside of her room.

"_Adam has a date?"_

"_Yeah and Clare and I are going there to make sure everything's fine."_

"_So…you're going on a date?"_

"…_Not exactly."_

"_Cool. Then you guys won't mind if I come."_

Clare stopped moving for a second and waited for Eli to respond. She was slightly wishing that Eli would deny Jake coming with them but she didn't know what Eli would do. But she has yet to spend one on one time with Eli, outside of the apartment, and she wanted the chance to just talk to him. But Jake coming would ruin it.

"_I…I don't mind. I'm sure Clare won't either."_

Clare sighed and grabbed one of her floral dresses and a jean jacket. She was going for casual now since this was no longer a "date". It wasn't a date before but…still. She couldn't help but feel disappointed but she had no reason to.

She stepped out of her room a little while later and found all of the guys waiting for her in the living room. "Okay, I'm ready," she told them while they all stood up from the couch.

"You can ride with me," Eli said quickly and then added, "If you want."

"Or me," Jake piped up and earned a glare from Eli.

Clare looked at Adam confusedly and he shrugged back at her. She looked at him pleadingly next, trying to get him to help her, and he sighed in defeat.

"I want Clare to ride with me, so I can her questions about Katie," Adam suggested and Clare smiled appreciatively. "We'll meet you guys there."

"Fine," both of the guys said. As Clare headed to the door, she stopped abruptly as Jake and Eli fought to open the front door for her. After a slight struggle, the door was finally open, Clare didn't know by who, but she walked out of it quickly and headed towards the elevator quickly. Once it opened on the bottom floor, Clare grabbed Adam's arm and led him to his car before Eli and Jake could protest any further as they did in the elevator. Once Clare was seated in the front of Adam's car, she saw Jake and Eli passing by it, bickering, but climbed into Jake's truck.

"What did you do to them?" Adam asked loudly as they went on the road.

"Nothing!" Clare replied defensively.

"I was kidding," Adam laughed. "_You_ aren't doing anything but _they_ are fighting over you."

"But they shouldn't be," Clare crossed her arms over her chest. "How can I tell them to stop?"

"You can't really," Adam said. "Guys…they're always in competition. They want something and another wants it too, they'll fight for it. But Eli and Jake won't fight with fists, they'll compete for you. Who'll impress you most, all that. It's something I saw coming when you first came. Sure you said you and Jake are just childhood friends but remember that night of the party? You should've seen his face when he was telling me that how you kissed him 'brought out feelings'. And I automatically thought, 'Oh great. Eli's in love with her, now Jake is too.' And I get that, because you're you, but until you pick someone, they're just gonna try to one up each other."

Clare let her head fall back to the window and she pouted. "I never meant for this to happen. Maybe I should move out, go back to Alli's."

"Noooo way," Adam said quickly. "You're the only reason I got this date. And by the way, do you think Katie would like that Italian restaurant next to the bar we went to? I thought Italian would be the best bet."

"Yeah," Clare nodded. "It's also a big restaurant so it's a good start. If it's too intimate, girls would think you're going too fast. Also, commotion in the restaurant could give you something to talk about. Something funny happens or you point out something about the people around you, that saves you from thinking of a conversation topic. Plus there's less chance for Katie to see me."

Adam sighed happily. "This is why I can't have you leave. Because you give me advice and in turn, I give you advice. Oh and if the date goes wrong…"

"Text me, I'll make up some excuse and get you, and we go," Clare told him. "Simple. But it won't go wrong. I introduced you to Katie for a reason and that's because I thought you and her would get along really well."

Clare wanted to go on but she hesitated. Adam caught it of course and asked, "What?"

Clare contemplated not continuing but she gave up. "But what about your brother? This is bound to get complicated if he finds out."

"Honestly, I haven't thought of that," Adam said sheepishly. "Katie said that her and Drew were never really serious and that they were officially over. But Drew always talked about her. But I really like her and if Drew wants me to be happy, he'd let me…right?"

"I wish I could say yes but I don't know who Drew is," Clare said honestly. "I would hope so but I can't make that judgment. But you should enjoy your date, get Drew out of your mind, and just have fun with her. It's your night. _She_ asked _you._"

Adam finally parked at the restaurant and Clare looked around for Katie's car. "She's not here yet," she said after scanning the entire parking lot. "Wait for her by the front doors and she'll be impressed by that. Once I see you guys go inside, we'll follow."

"But…I need to lock the car."

Clare thought for a second. "Aha, I'll get one of the guys to give it to you. Text when you want the keys and I'll have either of them meet you in the bathroom."

"Are you a professional at this or something?" Adam hypothetically asked. He finally left the car and Clare watched him walk over to the main door. As her eyes fixated on him only, she jumped and almost hit her head on the ceiling of the car as someone knocked on the driver's side window.

It was Eli and Jake and she rolled her eyes, unlocked the doors, and Eli climbed into the front seat as Jake took the back.

"What are you still doing in the car?" Eli asked. "And what's Adam doing?"

"He's waiting for Katie and once they're inside, we'll go inside," Clare said. She turned back to Adam and saw he was looking at his phone awkwardly. Adam wiped his palms on his dark jeans and looked around. "He's nervous," Clare commented to no one in particular.

"What if Katie was just messing with him?" Jake asked.

Clare shot a glare at him. "Katie wouldn't do that."

"I was just saying," Jake defensively said.

"Is that her?" Eli leaned over Clare's seat, his upper body now close to her, and pointed out a girl now walking towards Adam. Adam was looking in a different direction so he couldn't see. But because of the very close proximity to Eli, Clare started stuttering.

"Uh…um, yeah that's her," she finally let out. They watched as Adam turned his head, probably after Katie said his name, and he put on the sweetest smile Clare has ever seen. Adam gestured over to the door and opened it for her and they disappeared into the restaurant.

"Let's go then!" Eli exclaimed and went to open his door but Clare grabbed his shirt and pulled him back. Both Eli and Clare eyed Clare's hand on Eli's shirt and Clare pulled it away quickly and said, "Sorry. But…we should wait for them to get seated and then we'll go in."

Eli fixed his shirt, pressing down the wrinkles, and Clare looked away awkwardly out the window. After a few minutes of a tension filled silence, Clare left the car without a word and Eli and Jake followed soon after. Clare locked the car and they all headed into the restaurant. As they waited for a waitress to seat them, Clare said Adam and Katie at a table. Katie's back was to the exit and Clare was relieved to see that so there would be no chance of Katie spotting her.

Finally a server came and seated them at a table, close enough for them to see Adam but far away so it wasn't noticeable. They ordered their drinks and as the guys looked at the menu for their food, Clare was still looking at Adam and Katie.

"He's fine," Eli assured her.

"I know, I know," Clare said without looking at him. "But I'm just making sure it's going okay."

"At least take a break from that and order something to eat," Jake suggested. "This is dinner, after all. I'm paying."

"No, I am," Eli retorted. "I asked her, therefore I'm paying."

"But I invited myself, so I should pay," Jake replied.

"How about we all pay for ourselves, how about that?" Clare placed her menu down a little too loud, already irritated by the two.

"But—"

"Stop," she said angrily to both of them. "I mean it. Maybe I won't even order anything if you guys are just gonna fight about this. I'm paying for myself, you guys can decide whoever wants to pay for your food."

Clare just turned her gaze back at Adam and seeing him laughing put her in a slightly better mood. The back of Katie's head was all Clare could see from her but she was shaking her head a bit as Adam laughed so that must've been a good thing.

After the server came and Clare ordered the first thing she saw, a salad, they sat in silence. Clare spun her straw around in her drink and neither of the guys spoke. She was tired of the silence, even though there was a lot of noise around them, so she excused herself quietly and went to the bathroom.

She took out her phone and called Alli. It has been a few days since they actually talked but Clare was in desperate need of advice. "Alli, thank God," Clare said into the phone once she answered.

"Clare, what's wrong?"

"I'm at dinner with Jake and Eli."

"And that's a problem because…"

"Because they're being all, 'I'm paying' 'No I'm paying' and all that."

"Oh…"

"Yeah," Clare whined.

"Do you want me to come?"

"Would you? I mean, does Dave mind?"

"Dave's working late tonight so it's cool. Where are you?"

Clare went back to the table after giving Alli the information of the restaurant. Jake and Eli were talking but stopped when Clare sat back down at the table. She looked at them both curiously and asked, "What were you guys talking about?"

"Nothing," both said simultaneously.

Clare just rolled her eyes. "Alli's coming, by the way."

"Why?" Jake asked in a strange tone.

"Because I cannot stand being here by myself with you two trying to be the alpha male," Clare said. "So I need her here so I don't kill you both by the end of this."

"We agreed to stop," Eli said. "We're cool now. No more stupid fighting. This is just dinner, right? So no need for all the animosity."

"Right," Jake agreed. "We stopped, we swear."

"Good," Clare smiled.

The waitress came with the food and as she set the food down in front of them, she asked happily, "Is this a date?"

Clare scoffed, wanting to burst out laughing, but Eli said, "Oh yeah. This is a good old polyandry."

The waitress looked confused as Clare hid her laughter behind her hands. "You know…polygamy? But the term for _this _specifically is polyandry. It means a girl is dating multiple guys," Eli explained to the waitress.

The waitress smiled fakely, still not understanding what Eli said, and walked away and Clare couldn't hold in her laughter further. She covered her face as she laughed like a maniac, but was glad Eli and Jake were also laughing pretty loud.

"I'm pretty sure she's asking one of her co-workers," Jake said through his laughing.

"I think she believed me," Eli replied, smiling widely.

"Oh, this is completely different from what I imagined."

Alli came up behind Clare's seat, hand on her hip, and Clare stood up to give her a hug. Alli took the seat parallel to Clare's and after ordering, she held her hands under her chin and asked, "So…was this a roommate dinner or something or did you guys all decide to just go out to eat together?"

"We're here to make sure Adam's date goes well," Eli answered. "Clare won't stop looking over there every five seconds."

"I'm making sure they're both okay," Clare said. "And they are. He hasn't even texted to get his keys back so I think it's going well."

"You gonna finish that?" Jake asked Clare, referring to her salad.

"No, take it," Clare waved her plate away but Alli swatted Jake's hand away from taking it.

"No, she's finishing it," Alli said sternly. "You ordered it, you're eating it."

Clare wanted to object but Alli had the look on her face that Clare couldn't defy. So she picked up her fork and started picking at her salad.

"Are you the food police or something?" Jake said to Alli.

Alli glanced at Clare before saying, "I just don't like it when people order food and then end up not eating it. I've been to less rich countries where they would be happy to have a quarter of what's on Clare's plate right now. Plus…Clare needs to eat."

Clare rolled her eyes as she put a fork full into her mouth. She wiped her lips with her napkin and swallowed the food with her drink. Alli looked at her every time she would take a bite and Clare continued to glare. Not because Alli was being pushy but she hated being watched as she ate. Alli knew this too.

"So…" Alli finally looked toward Eli, ripping her eyes away from Clare. "How is Imogen? I was supposed to work with her today but she didn't show up."

Clare's first reflex was to kick Alli and moved her foot, but ended up kicking someone else.

"Ow, did you just kick me?" Jake yelped.

"I am so sorry," Clare apologized sincerely. "Really."

Eli cleared his throat and said, "We broke up. Recently."

"How recent?" Alli asked and Clare's eyes got big. _Shut up, Alli. Just shut up._

"Yesterday," Eli said, laughing slightly. Clare knew he was forcing the laughter. As he drank from his drink, his eyes were shifty. He was very uncomfortable.

"So Alli, how's Dave?" Clare asked to change the subject. "Dave's an upcoming producer."

"Cool," Eli was impressed. "Music?"

"Yeah, he's working with someone right now and they're trying to get a single ready for the radio," Alli replied.

"Oh really? My dad's a disc jockey, I could set something up for you."

Alli's jaw dropped. "Really? That would be great! Who's your dad?"

"Bullfrog," Eli answered. Alli and Eli engaged in a conversation about radio and music and Clare couldn't help but smile. Her best friend was getting along with her roommate. This was going well.

Clare felt her phone vibrate and checked to see a text from Adam. "_I need the keys. Send Jake or Eli now?"_

"Uh…Jake, could you give these to Adam in the bathroom?" Clare handed Jake the keys.

"Their date's over?" Jake said curiously. "Kinda fast, don't you think?"

Another text came to Clare's phone and Clare said, "Ah, Adam's taking her to an ice cream place. Looks like this is going well. Now give him the keys."

"Okay, okay," Jake stood up from the seat and headed towards the bathroom, but not before Clare could hear him mutter, "_Bossy._"

By the time Jake came back and Clare got a "in the clear" text from Adam, Eli and Alli were still talking about music. Clare awkwardly pushed a piece of carrot around her near empty plate, waiting for them to end their conversation.

"Quick, I think you should kiss me, that should get their attention," Jake whispered to her.

Clare smacked his arm. "No thanks."

"Oh come on, you know you want to."

"Not really."

Jake leaned towards Clare even more. "If I keep doing this, eventually they'll notice."

"Notice how uncomfortable I'm getting? Yeah," Clare was moving her head back only slightly.

Jake seemed up for the challenge as he leaned even more in his elbow, his head at Clare's shoulder now. "In three…two…one…"

"What's going on here?"

Jake pulled back and Clare finally sighed in relief. Alli was looking at her amusedly though and she turned her attention to Eli. But Eli was giving Jake a death stare. If looks could kill, Jake would be dead in the middle of the restaurant.

"Testing Clare's comfort zone," Jake answered.

"Testing my patience also," Clare replied. She tried to joke, making light of the tension now at the table, but she saw that Eli's glare never faltered. She turned her head to Adam's table and saw it vacant.

"Oh! Adam's gone! Let's go!" Clare stood up from her seat.

"We have to pay," Eli said awkwardly.

Clare mentally slapped herself. "Right." She sat back down and pulled out her wallet.

"No, I got it," Jake said. _Oh not this again_, Clare thought.

"No, I've got it," Eli countered, his wallet now in his hands.

In the scramble to set money down on the table, plates and glasses started clanking, and all of a sudden—

"Ah!"

A hand, Clare didn't know whose, pushed over her ice cold ice tea, sending the cold drink into her lap and onto her wallet. Both became soaked and Clare shrieked, standing up hastily, and her chair making a screeching noise and attracted the eyes of all of the people in the restaurant. The bottom part of Clare's dress was soaked and her wallet was now on the floor, also soaked and soaking up the ice tea now on the floor as well.

"Clare, I am so—"

"Save it," Clare said bitterly. She raced to the bathroom and started to attempt to clean the bottom of her dress with a paper towel but the brown tea stained her dress and it was not coming out.

"Clare…"

"Go away Alli."

Clare sniffled as she turned on the automatic hand dryer and held her dress out to it, hoping it would dry.

"I told Jake and Eli to go ahead. They paid and left and I said I'd take you home."

"Thanks," Clare said appreciatively.

"I saw who knocked it down if you want to know who—"

"Does it matter?" Clare rolled her eyes. "They're acting like children and I'm sick of it. Maybe I should just be the roommate who just lives there and nothing else. Would save me a lot of trouble and save me dresses."

"Clare, they both have feelings for you…"

"Really? I didn't notice."

"_Clare_."

"Alli…can you just, UGH. This isn't drying! And when it does it'll be this ugly color! I liked this dress! And they just had to go and ruin it!" Clare ranted frantically. "I don't want to go home, but I want to know how Adam's date went, and I—"

"Clare," Alli took a hold on Clare's shoulders. "Breathe. It's okay."

"It's not, because I'm gonna have to see their faces when I get home," Clare sadly said. "I can't escape them."

"But it's your place too," Alli reminded her. "You can't let them drive you out of there. I'll take you home."

"Fine," Clare said defeatedly.

As Alli lead her to the bathroom door, Clare muttered, "Did I tell you that we have a bunny now?"

"A bunny?"

* * *

><p>Clare sat on her bed, her legs crossed and a book in her lap, as she waited for Adam to get home. It was around 10 o'clock now and the last time Adam texted her was when he said he was taking Katie to an ice cream place, 2 hours ago.<p>

When she had gotten home, Clare was expecting to see Jake or Eli waiting for her since Jake's truck was in the parking lot but neither of them were in the living room or in the kitchen. She could tell that they were both in their rooms and she was relieved that she didn't have to face them yet.

But now, all three of them were in their rooms. Clare could hear the faint noise of music coming from both rooms as her room was quiet, only the noise of her turning a book every few minutes. It was eerie not to have any commotion at all when the apartment was almost full.

Clare moved to her stomach now, laying her book under her chin, and read. After several pages, she saw a large envelope slip under her door. She sat up abruptly and eyed it. But then she rolled her eyes at her stupidity and picked it up. It had her name written on it in undoubtedly guy's handwriting and seemed a little heavy.

She opened it and dumped the components onto her bed. A smaller envelope and a stapled, typed, essay looking thing were the two things inside. She saw the envelope had the words "Open this first" on it so of course she opened it first.

"_Clare,_

_I apologize for my actions at not only the restaurant but also last night and pretty much every day you've been here. That's not how I should be acting around _my friend_. I know we pushed you over the edge tonight and I promise never to let that happen again. I actually want you to stay, the place has never smelled or been as clean._

_As a peace offering, I decided to let you read something no one has never read before. Ever since reading your book, I was inspired to write my own. Did you know I was a writer? I don't know if I ever told you. But anyways, I didn't take it seriously until one day, there was this girl that I saved from getting hit by a car. She inspired a story idea in me that day and when I realized she was my new roommate and also my favorite author, I was overcome with the urge to write it._

_And this is what I have so far. I call it "The One I Thought I Saw" but that's just a tentative title. You don't have to read it and I feel weird sending this to a famous author but…you're right next door._

_Again, I am sorry for how I've been acting and I hope you forgive me. I won't act weird anymore, I promise. We're friends and I know that's it._

_Eli"_

Clare flipped to the first page of the several page packet and read the first lines.

"_Was she a figment of my imagination? I cannot be sure. The stares I am receiving from people of the street tell me I'm crazy but the warmth of her skin is still on my hands and the smile she had on her face was still sketched in my mind._

_I saved the life of this girl and I do not even know if she is real. She disappeared so quickly but she was too real to me._

_And what she did not know was by saving her life, she saved mine._

_But is she real? Of that I cannot be sure. But if I have to search every inch of this city to find the truth, I will."_

She stopped reading and held the packet close to her heart. This was about her. Obviously it wasn't real but this was written about the moment they met. How he saved her from the car, how quick but significant that moment really was. She didn't know that it meant as much to him as it did to her. But now it was clear; it was an even more powerful moment for him, having started a novel about it.

Clare decided to read the rest once he was finished writing it. If she read any further and he wasn't finished, she would annoy him to finish it. But she didn't want Eli to rush the writing process. And he had talent. Remembering that she was his favorite author, she felt completely honored now. Because this man had just as much talent for writing as her and would not be surprised if this book did better than hers.

Clare grabbed the nearest piece of blank paper she could find, a post it, and wrote "Thank You" with a permanent marker. Then on another post it note, she wrote "I will finish reading once this is in a hard cover book." She stuck both notes onto the packet and silently, she was to Eli's door and slipped it under his door.

She laid down in her bed once her mission was complete and noticed the volume of Eli's music turn down considerably. He must've seen the notes now and Clare imagined Eli smiling at them. That thought and picture in her mind brought her to sleep, a smile gracing her lips.


	9. Chapter 9

**Are you guys getting bored with the story? I hate to sound all ungrateful but there's less and less people reviewing. :( Sorry if the updating schedule isn't to your liking. I'm doing my best. It's tough with school!**

**Who watched New Girl this week? Tell me if you did! If not, watch it Tuesdays at 9 ET on FOX! It'll be worth it, I promise!  
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><p>Two weeks went by with Clare not wanting to kill any of her roommates. Eli managed to stick to his promise and became a good friend to Clare. Jake, who made no promise of his own, was still acting curiously but Clare noticed that when Eli backed off of her, so did Jake. Clare didn't know how to make sense of that. Was Jake just trying to challenge Eli or was there another reason he had been a competitive freak?<p>

But Clare wasn't going to question it to him. She was glad it was done.

Clare groaned as she woke up, leaning over to turn off her alarm, only to see that it was her phone vibrating and ringing, not her alarm sounding off. She glanced at her digital clock before answering her phone, seeing it flashing and reading off 3:34.

"Oh crap," she worriedly said and then answered her phone. "Hello?"

"Clare, it's 10 o'clock. Where are you?" Katie asked her and Clare hit herself on the forehead.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why but my clock is messed up and my alarm didn't go off. I'm so so sorry. I will be right there," Clare walked around her room as she spoke, gathering stray clothes that smelled okay plus her towel, and went toward the bathroom.

"Well get here quick," Katie said and Clare hung up the phone. She banged on the door irritated. The shower was on but she had to take a shower and get ready.

"Can't you hear that I'm busy?"

It was Jake, of course. Clare rolled her eyes and pounded her fist onto the door again. "I'm late! No one bothered to wake me up!"

"Don't you have an alarm for that?"

"Something happened to my clock. Just hurry up!"

"I just got in the shower. Wait a few minutes."

"I _can't_ wait," Clare overly emphasized.

"Then use Eli's bathroom," Jake suggested.

Clare groaned and said, "Fine."

She walked to Eli's room, expecting that he was gone since he usually left early in the mornings, but was startled when she saw him still sleeping on his bed, shirt off from what she could tell with the blankets partially covering him. He stirred awake at the noise of the opening door and Clare quickly apologized, "I am so sorry for waking you up," she said. "But…can I use your bathroom?"

As Eli moved on his bed, making annoyed and whiny noises from the back of his throat, Clare couldn't help but stare as the comforter was thrown off of him, revealing his bare upper body and basketball shorts hanging off his hips. She gulped as he moved to sit at the edge of his bed, rubbing his face tiredly, and finally said, "Go ahead."

"Thank you," she rushed to the bathroom and closed it behind her quickly, and letting out a deep breath. She put her clothes on the sink counter and in the mirror, she mouthed, "_Oh my God_" to herself.

Finally, she composed herself long enough to turn on the shower and wait for the hot water. When she got into the shower, it took her a second to realize that she hadn't brought her body wash, shampoo, or condition in with her. She looked at Eli's collection of things and read what his said. They were all specifically for guys, ones that smelled all musky and unnecessarily strong. But then she found one in the back of all the other ones. It was just like the shampoo she had. The simple, clean smelling one that made her hair all soft. It was weird to see it in Eli's collection. Why did he have it? But at that very moment, Clare was very grateful.

She washed her hair with the shampoo and decided to use the conditioner Eli had. It didn't have a strong smell to it so she thought it was safe. She then decided to skip the body wash, knowing the scent would wreak on her for a while.

Clare went to turn the shower off and as she turned the knob, the water wasn't dying down nor did the temperature change at all. She twisted the knob again and there was no change. "Oh this can't be happening," she muttered. She pushed the knob back and nothing. She pulled it forward and it suddenly came off and into her hand, inches away from where it had to be.

"Crap!" she exclaimed louder and scrambled to put it back. The water was still pounding on her and was unrelenting. The knob wasn't wanting to go back to its usual place and she did not want to have this awkward conversation with—

"Clare, are you alright?"

_Why does this have to happen now?_ Clare thought to herself. She gave up and got out of the still running shower and quickly dried herself off and threw on her shirt, underwear, and pants. All the while, Eli was knocking on the door asking if she was okay.

"You're not dead are you? Because it'd be really creepy if you were…in my bathroom."

Once Clare got her clothes on, and they were all in the correct direction, she opened the door and pulled Eli inside.

"Whoa, thought we'd have a proper first date first but okay," he joked at Clare's hasty move and she just dramatically pointed and gestured at the shower.

"I broke it!" she yelled. "I broke it!"

"What do you mean you—"

"The knob came off," Clare showed him the knob on the bathtub and Eli's eyes enlarged.

"You broke it…you actually broke it," Eli said mesmerized. He stepped closer to the shower and then said, "Oh God, it's clogged too. The water's filling up."

"What?" Clare stepped beside Eli and saw that the water was indeed filling up in the bottom of the tub. There was at least two inches now and rising quickly.

"So you managed to break the knob and clog up the tub? What else, did you use up all of my shampoo?" Eli asked, raising his brows.

"I used some but not all of it," Clare admitted. "By the way, why do you have the one that I use?"

Eli closed his mouth. "No reason. I use it. Smells nice."

"Yes but you already have other ones there."

"I…I gotta call someone to fix this," Eli stuttered and then walked out of the bathroom. Clare looked back at the tub and grimaced as it was close to halfway full now and if it wasn't fixed quickly, it would definitely overfill and flood the bathroom and more than likely transfer over into Eli's room and potentially ruin his things.

Eli came walking back in, phone in hand, and was clicking on it. Clare barely noticed what he was saying because he still had no shirt on and the light in the bathroom made him a lot easier to see. "Where can we find a local plumber?" he said. "I can't find anyone around the area so—"

"Jake!" Clare snapped her finger and ran out of the bathroom and towards the other one. She started banging on the door again. "JAKE! The other shower is broken!"

"That would explain the bad water pressure in this one!"

Clare just rolled her eyes. "Can you fix it? The knob broke and the tub's filling up."

"Why is it filling up? Shouldn't it just be draini—"

"Can you please just get out of the shower and fix Eli's?"

Clare heard his shower turn off and she breathed a sigh of relief. "First you demand to use my shower then you break Eli's shower and now you're demanding me to fix it. Has anyone told you that you're really demanding?"

"Yeah, yeah, make fun, but can you do it faster because the—"

The bathroom door opened and Clare was startled for the second time in the span of 30 minutes. Jake was shirtless and thankfully had his jeans on, but his upper body had droplets of water and his hair was dripping while he ran his towel through it. It took Clare a while to look him in the face and once she did, he had an amused expression written on it.

"Enjoying yourself?" he smirked and dropped his towel onto the sink.

"You wish," Clare glared embarrassedly. _Is it necessary to have to see my roommate shirtless?_ "Now can you please?"

"Right," Jake grabbed his tool box from his room and Clare wondered why it was already out for him to get on his desk but didn't ask and just followed him into Eli's room and bathroom. Jake almost slipped going into the bathroom as water was already on the tiled floor. Clare quickly caught him and Jake settled on his feet.

He said thank you to Clare and then went to the tub. "How the hell did you get the knob off?" Jake asked Clare. "Angry?"

"It wouldn't turn off whichever way I turned it so I thought maybe…"

"Maybe pulling the damn thing off would help?"

"Can we focus on getting it fixed before Eli's room gets flooded?"

Jake started fiddling around with the shower and Eli and Clare started to pick up things off Eli's carpet and putting them onto the dresser and his bed.

"I am so so sorry," Clare apologized. "Of course this would happen."

"Don't beat yourself up for it," Eli calmed her down. "It's fine."

"No, it's not fine. Oh God, the water's seeping into the carpet now. I'll pay for the carpet to be redone and whatever else gets messed up. This was my mistake and I'll own up to it. And you probably shouldn't sleep here because dirty carpet tends to smell really bad and the room will probably have to get redone so you can stay in my room, I'll sleep on the couch and—"

Eli took a hold of Clare's shoulders and shook her slightly. She stopped talking and her breath hitched as she noticed the close proximity to Eli. The first time this happened, Eli kissed her. Clare was unconsciously thinking that he would do it again but Eli pulled his hands away and smiled.

"You really have to calm down," he laughed. "It's fine. So the carpet gets wet. That can be replaced. The shower can be fixed. These are just temporary problems, you know."

"Yeah but I feel really bad."

"Well you shouldn't," Eli told her. "It's not like anyone got hurt."

Clare heard someone knocking on the door and on the way to the door, she texted Katie saying she wouldn't be able to make it to work and to tell the boss she was sick. Clare never did this, of course, but she couldn't just leave and make Eli have to clean up the mess himself. Jake surely wouldn't help after he fixes the shower. Clare opened the door, still texting, and once she sent the message, she looked up.

"What are you doing here?"

Owen walked into the apartment without a word and Clare pulled his arm back, pushing him into the hallway again and blocking his way in.

"I need to talk to you," Owen pleaded. "I just…" Clare watched as Owen's face crumbled and his hand flew up to his mouth. Clare was in disbelief at this emotional display that Owen was having and was so confused, not knowing what it was about.

"I know how you felt now," Owen cleared his throat and said. "And I hate that I made you feel this way."

"Feel what way?" Clare wanted to know.

"How it felt to be cheated on."

Clare's mouth formed an O shape. "So, you know what Imogen's been cheating on you?"

"Yeah, I found out recently and I can't believe it."

"Well, you know what they say," Clare began but was cut off by Eli's voice.

"Who's at the door?"

Clare stumbled as her hand, attached to the door knob, was pushed back and the door opened wider. Eli stood beside Clare, looking at Owen at the doorway. Eli held out his hand to him and Clare was wondering what the hell he was doing.

_Didn't you see this guy with your ex-girlfriend? Unless…_

"I'm Eli," he introduced himself to Owen. "Who are you?"

"Owen, uh, Milligan," he answered, shaking Eli's hand back. "Clare's…ex."

"Oh, the one who cheated on her," Eli said in a tone that made Clare uneasy.

Owen nervously laughed. "Yeah…yeah…"

"So what brings you here? Because I actually need Clare to help me out with something right now and you're kind of taking precious time away from my room getting destroyed," Eli said so menacingly. Of course this wasn't mean toward Clare, it was all toward Owen.

"Eli, do you really not know who this is?" Clare asked him quietly after pushing him away from the door a bit.

"Your cheating ex-boyfriend," Eli replied. "He just said so."

"No, I mean, look at his face. Do you really not recognize him?"

Eli turned his head to Owen and Owen smiled uneasily at the doorway and Eli shook his head. "No I haven't seen him before," Eli answered honestly. "What are you…wait, you said that your boyfriend cheated on you…with Imogen."

"Yes," Clare confirmed with a nod.

"And I saw another guy with her so that means she was cheating on me with multiple guys," Eli put the pieces together and Clare looked at him sympathetically.

"I'm sorry," she put her hand on his arm comfortingly. "I had no idea."

Eli walked back to the door and said, "So what are you doing here?" he asked Owen.

"I wanted to apologize to Clare," Owen said. "I just found out that my…I don't really know who she is to me, but she was staying with me so I guess my girlfriend, has been cheating on me. I cheated on Clare with that girl so—"

"Imogen Moreno," Eli angrily said. "While you were cheating on Clare with Imogen, Imogen was cheating on me with you. And then I caught her with a guy who wasn't you. So I guess Imogen was cheating on me with two guys and has been cheating on you with someone else. And you know what they say, once a cheater…"

"Always a cheater," Clare finished for him. She narrowed her eyes a bit at Owen, feeling slight but not much sympathy for him. He cheated and now he knew how it felt to be cheated on. It was karma that he needed to taste. "Thank you for the apology but I think it's time for you to go."

Owen nodded understandingly and left. Eli closed the door angrily and stormed back to his room. Clare followed, knowing she needed to help him clean up anyways, and found that the carpet was further soaked but the shower seemed to be no longer running.

"Fixed it," Jake said breathlessly. "Pretty much had a second shower also but it's fixed. The bathroom's completely flooded plus I can't get the sink unclogged without flooding the bathroom even more."

"Anyone have a bucket?" Eli asked.

"Pretty sure I have a small one," Clare said. She went to go get it and came back with one of her small, decorative buckets that she kept her flip flops in. "Will this do?"

Eli nodded and went into the bathroom. Clare followed and realized that the bathroom floor had at least an inch of water on the floor. She wanted to cry but knew Eli would probably tell her to stop anyways, and that it wasn't her fault. She watched as Eli started taking water out of the tub and putting it down the sink drain.

"Here," Clare stepped to the sink and said, "How about you get the water from the tub and pass it to me and I'll pour it down the sink. Just so you won't have to walk back and forth."

"Okay," Eli agreed and they started on a lengthy process of de-filling the tub.

"So…" Eli began. "That was Owen."

"Yeah," Clare said slowly. "I sure know how to pick them, don't I?"

Eli chuckled while passing the bucket back to her. "You and I are good at that, it seems."

Clare slowly poured the water down the sink. "How are you holding up? I mean, you just found out that it was two guys that—"

"Let's not go back there," Eli cut her off. "It's done. She's done. We're done. But—"

"But what?'

"I have stuff at her apartment that I haven't gotten back yet and I don't want to call her to get them back," Eli admitted shyly. "I'm pathetic, aren't I?"

"No, you're not," Clare assured him. "You're really not."

"I can't even call her so I can get some of my clothes back. And my favorite pillow case. And some of my books. But I can't talk to her, I don't want to. Even though I wanted to the morning after we broke up, I don't want to know because I'm over her."

"Eli, you need to get that stuff back."

"But that means I'll have to see her and talk to her but I don't want to."

"You have to."

"I don't want to."

"So you'd rather avoid talking to her than not get some of your favorite stuff back?"

"Yes."

"_Now_ you're pathetic," Clare said, handing the bucket back.

"Did you get all your stuff back from Owen?"

"Yeah, I got all of my stuff back the day I moved out of there. Then when I needed my furniture, I said I'd be getting the rest of it and I left him a nice note in his copy of my book," Clare smiled remembering that moment. She felt so powerful, being the one with the final word. "Eli, you should get the final word here. You haven't gotten your stuff so you need to do that and then get the final word. Trust me, you'll feel triumphant."

Once the tub had gone down considerably, Clare made sure there was nothing that would clog the drain and took out the thing that catches the hair from the drain and pulled it out. The water started going down the drain and Clare felt relief.

"Now we just have to clean up the bathroom, call a guy to replace the carpet, and get your stuff from Imogen's," Clare sighed. "Oh and like I said earlier, you can sleep in my room. I'll take the couch."

"That's not necessary, I'll take the couch," Eli waved her off and stood up.

"No, I insist," Clare put a hand to her heart.

"Well, I appreciate it but I don't mind taking the couch," Eli started to walk towards the door.

"But I—" Clare grabbed a hold of Eli's shoulder and he stumbled back and scrambled to catch something. The only thing to try and steady himself was Clare but she also lost her footing. Suddenly, there was a large splash of water and Eli was on his back and Clare on top of him, on the bathroom floor.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" Clare struggled to hold herself up on her hands but the floor was slippery. "Man, I'm just ruining everything today, aren't I?"

"No," Eli laughed. He lifted his head up a bit and looked up at her. "Everything's just…rainy with you today."

"Very funny," Clare replied, her tongue sticking out. She went to move off of him but Eli grabbed her waist and held her back. "Come on, Eli."

"Can we just stay here for a while?" he asked.

"No, we have to clean up this mess."

"Which mess? The bathroom or me?"

Clare stared down at him and placed a hand on his cheek. "You're not a mess."

"I am though. I can't even dial my ex's number and get my stuff back," Eli pouted.

"Well how about Adam, Jake, and I go with you to Imogen's?" Clare suggested. "That should make it easier right."

"Yeah, it should," Eli agreed. "But I still have to call her."

"That," Clare poked his nose and his face scrunched up. "You have to do on your own."

Eli sighed and sat up, bringing Clare to sit up also, now perched on his lap. "By the way," he whispered, leaning closer to her. Clare got nervous, thinking he was about to kiss her, the feeling from earlier coming back now. "Thanks a lot for the future new carpet. I want black carpet."

Clare smiled and stood up, taking Eli's arm and pulling him up as well. "As you wish."

* * *

><p>Eli was driving to Imogen's apartment building. Clare was in the passenger seat, Adam and Jake in the back. Clare could tell that Eli was nervous, tapping his thumbs on the steering wheel. She reached over touch Eli's arm, giving him a smile.<p>

"So Eli," Jake's voice ruined that small moment and Clare pulled her hand away. "Do you think you could get that huge TV? Seriously, that TV was _huge_."

"It's hers," Eli said. "She paid for it."

"I still think she owes you something," Jake muttered. "At least demand for that stereo system."

"Oh yeah…that's mine," Eli remembered. "I'll, I'll ask her."

"No, just take it," Adam suggested. "It's yours."

Eli drove into the underground parking under the apartment building and started driving to the highest level of the parking area and Clare pointed out a free parking space for him but he drove past it. Clare saw him going towards the exit and saw that he was going back down.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

"Just…one more time around and I'll park," he said. "One more time."

Clare expected him to park after one more time...after two more times…after three more times…and then after four times around, he finally parked. They all got out of the car and Clare saw Adam heaving, breathing heavily. She rushed over to him.

"I felt so sick going around in circles," he told Clare. "Dammit Eli."

"He's nervous, okay? Give him a break," Clare rubbed her hand on Adam's back and helped him follow Eli and Jake into the elevator.

After a few minutes, the four were standing in front of Imogen's door.

"Just knock on it," Clare urged.

"Or I'll do it…" Adam said. He lifted his hand and Eli smacked it away.

"I'll do it," Eli took a deep breath and finally knocked on the door. Before the last knock was finished, the door opened.

"Eli!" Imogen Moreno exclaimed. She grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. She hugged him tightly and Eli held his hands, in tight fists, away from her. "Oh I've missed you. You look…wonderful."

"I'm here to get my stuff Imogen," Eli said in a serious tone but Clare could tell he was struggling.

"But, you can stay for a bit right? I made dinner and I want to…you know…catch up," Imogen still had her arms around his neck and Clare saw Eli's tight grip lessening.

"Does Imogen even see that we're also here?" Jake whispered.

"Doubt it," Adam muttered. "Girl's clueless."

"But she's hot," Jake said.

"Yeah, that can only get you so far in life," Clare retorted.

Eli shrugged off Imogen's arms and walked away from her, going down a hallway and out of sight of Adam, Clare, and Jake. Imogen ran after him but they were still talking loud enough for the three to hear.

"_Eli, please."_

"_I just came to get my stuff back. I told you that Imogen."_

"_But I thought we could?"_

"_I could forget that you've been screwing two guys behind my back? No."_

"_Two? How do you—"_

"_Does it matter?"_

"_I love you. Please."_

"_Where's my Dead Hand shirt?"_

"_It's…it's…"_

"_Imogen, just tell me. I'm trying to make this as painless as possible."_

"_I know, I know, I just—"_

"_I just came here to get my stuff and then you can be out of my life forever. I've felt tortured the last few weeks because of you and now I actually feel okay. But then this morning I remember that I still have stuff here and I heard from someone that the best way to feel better is to get my stuff and get the last word. So here's the last word. I—"_

There was silence now and Clare's heart raced. What was going on? What were they doing? What was Imogen doing now?"

"_Did you actually think that kissing me would change everything?"_

Clare gasped to herself. She felt her heart ache as Eli said the word "kiss". But she calmed herself down.

Eli emerged from the hallway, a box in hand, and he handed that box over to Adam. "I'm getting the stereo. Wait for my downstairs, okay?" he told the three. All of them nodded and started down the hallway. The elevator opened and Jake and Adam walked inside.

"I think I'm going to wait for him, you guys go ahead," Clare backed away from the elevator doors.

"He doesn't need you to wait," Jake said.

"I want to though," Clare said. "Just to make sure he's okay."

"We'll see you down there then," Adam nodded. The doors closed and Clare avoided Jake's look of disapproval. She walked back to Imogen's door and saw that it was still open. The living room was in full view and Eli was crouched down unplugging the stereo and Imogen was looking down at him, arms over her chest. Clare stepped away from the doorway and kept her back against the wall and just listened in.

"_I paid for this Imogen so I'm taking it."_

"_This is so mean. You just come in here and raid everything."_

"_It's my stuff! Of course I'm taking my stuff back."_

"_You like her don't you?"_

"_Who?"_

"_Clare Edwards. You like her."_

"_Why does it matter?"_

"_Because there are a lot of things that you don't know about her."_

"_And I'm willing to find those things out."_

Clare walked down the hallway to the elevator so that Eli wouldn't see her waiting there. After a few minutes, Eli came into her vision with a victorious smile on his face. Clare pressed the elevator button and asked, "So, how'd it go?"

"Good. Great. I feel really really awesome right now. Thanks for suggesting this. Imogen is gone from my life and I got my stuff back. All thanks to you," Eli said happily.

The two stepped inside the elevator. "Why me? It wasn't me that went in there and took your stuff back. That was all you," Clare said.

"If it wasn't for you urging me to, I probably would've never gotten this baby back," Eli moved his arms to refer to his stereo. "And tell off Imogen."

"You told her off? What'd you say?"

"You'll never know," he smirked.

* * *

><p>"So they're gonna come to replace the carpet in three days. In the meantime, you're staying in my room," Clare placed her phone down on the coffee table and sat back on the couch. She and Eli were listening to the radio from Eli's amazing stereo.<p>

"This couch isn't that bad, you know," Eli laid down on it, putting his arms behind his head.

"Which is why I'm going to sleep on it," Clare replied.

"But…I'm already so comfortable," Eli stretched out and grabbed the blanket hanging off the back.

"No, no, no, no," Clare said quickly and snatched it away from him. "Seriously Eli. You're staying in my room."

"So I want to stay here and so do you, so how about we just both stay here?" Eli thought out loud.

"Then we're wasting a perfectly good room in which you could be staying in," Clare replied.

"Does it really mean that much to you?"

"Yes," Clare stuck out her bottom lip.

"Fine," Eli groaned and got off the couch. Clare got some extra sheets and blankets from her closet and replaced her bed with it. Then she got her favorite blanket and pillow and moved it over to the couch.

Before going to sleep, she brushed her teeth and washed her face. She said goodnight to all three boys and then finally laid down on the couch.

Around midnight, she got up to get a drink of water and decided to go check on Eli to see if he was okay. She opened the door quietly and saw him not on the bed. But on the floor.

She walked over to his sleeping form on the ground and kicked his foot gently. "Seriously?"

"What?" he said groggily. "You said to stay in your room. I'm staying in your room."

"When I meant my room, the bed part was implied," she said annoyed.

"You can sleep on your bed, I'm comfortable here," Eli turned back on his side.

"You're annoying," Clare huffed. She walked out of the room and went back to the couch.

* * *

><p>Clare woke up slowly, her arms clutching a pillow, and as her eyes adjusted to the light, she didn't see the dark color of the couch or the dark red walls of the living room. Instead it was white walls she saw. She was in her room, on her bed.<p>

_How did I get here?_

Clare looked over her bed and saw Eli still sleeping on the floor. But then she noticed a note on her bedside table.

"_I was lying. The couch wasn't comfortable. So I knew you wouldn't be._"

Clare smiled to herself and laid back down on the bed, still holding the note. This man was surprising her every single day and she could tell that with every single day passing, she was just falling further and further.


	10. Chapter 10

**You guys are so wonderful! Thank you for reassuring me that there are still readers! I'm amazed that I got over 40 reviews from one chapter! Has never happened with any other story of mine before! Still so stunned! I really appreciate you all reading and reviewing. :) I thought I'd get this chapter out because I wanted to thank you all and not make you wait so long for another update. There still will be one this weekend, I promise!**

**Watch New Girl! Do it! You'll love it! Story dedicated to MelissaIsLame! And this chapter is for those that have been with this story since the beginning! So much more to come and thank you for sticking by me!**

**Thanks for reading! Please review!**

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><p>"Hi Mom," Clare said into her cell phone as she typed up things at work. "What's up?"<p>

"Clare, honey, I will be in the area this weekend and I'd like to visit you. Plus I haven't seen your new apartment yet."

Clare almost dropped her phone at the thought of her mother being in her apartment where three guys are running amuck. She told her mother about moving into the apartment the day she did but didn't tell her anything else other than she'd have three male roommates. For all Helen Edwards knew, her daughter could be staying in an extremely tiny apartment and had to share a room with one of the boys.

"Uh, what about dad?" Clare asked. Her neck began to hurt so she moved her phone over to the other side.

"He's away on business," Helen answered. "So what do you say? Can I have dinner over at your place one night and then I'll take all of you out the next night?"

Clare made a mental list of the things she'd have to do before her mother's arrival in two days and sighed. She couldn't say no to her mother. She hasn't seen her in a while plus knew she must be extremely bored with her being gone, Darcy halfway across the world, and her dad seemingly on business a lot lately.

"Sure mom, that sounds great," Clare said. "I'll see you Saturday? I'll email you the address and the information."

"Perfect Clare-Bear. Tell the boys hi for me and that I'm meet them! Love you sweetie."

"Love you too," Clare said into the phone and then hung up. She sat back in the chair and closed her eyes.

"So…your mom's visiting."

Clare spun around in her swivel chair and saw Katie leaning against the side of her cubicle. "You don't look very excited for a girl who I know to have a good relationship with their mom."

"This is the first time she's meeting Eli or Adam," Clare said worriedly. "Plus the apartment isn't always…clean."

"Then clean it?" Katie suggested.

"I think I'm just gonna hope that my mom doesn't demand to see Eli's room or Jake and Adam's room," Clare turned around in her chair. "I'll probably clean every place else. And cook dinner. And coach them on what to say."

"I doubt they'll need coaching. Have some faith in them," Katie said lightly. "Well…have faith in Adam at least. I don't know about the other two."

"Oh I know Adam will be fine. Eli, probably. Jake knows my mom but I don't know what to expect. Jake's been acting a little weird lately. More shirtless than usual," Clare said, remembering how the last few days, Jake seemed just to not wear a shirt around the apartment until one of them forced him to.

"Well hopefully he remembers his shirt when your mom's there," Katie laughed and walked away.

"I hope so too," Clare mumbled to herself as she went back to work.

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Clare got to the apartment door, arms full of grocery bags and struggled to open the door. Once she did get the door unlocked and opened, all of the grocery bags dropped to the living room floor. Thankfully nothing broke but things were rolling towards different directions. Aggravated, Clare threw her purse aside, along with her keys, and knelt down to collect all of the items.

"I thought the fridge was full."

Eli came in through the door, eyeing Clare, before dropping down and helping her pick up the stuff. "What's all this for?" he asked.

"My mom's coming to visit," Clare told him.

"Now?"

"No, not now," Clare laughed. "In a few days. So that means—"

"Clean, make sure nothing goes wrong, get Jake to put on a shirt, and…not break the shower," Eli teased, winking at her. Clare rolled her eyes and stood up with two bags full of groceries.

"I know my mom will love you guys, I'm just nervous about it. Last time I saw her, she saw me with Owen. Now I'm living with three guys and I'm not dating any of them and I'm sure she'll have some comments about that." Clare and Eli brought all of the groceries into the kitchen and she started putting them all away.

"Why would she have something to say?" Eli asked. He took one of the cans from Clare's hand and put it away for her. He held out his hand for another and Clare handed him another one.

"Because she thinks that girls and guys shouldn't live together unless they _are _together," Clare answered. "And by together I mean married or about to get engaged. You should've seen her when I told her I was moving in with Owen. She thought I was about to get engaged and now, here we are."

"So your mom doesn't approve of the fact that you're living here, because you're not about to marry any of us?" Eli asked, trying to clarify the statement.

"It's not that she doesn't approve," Clare began to clarify. "She wouldn't come here if she didn't approve. But she…frowns upon it. She eased up to the idea when I told her that one of the three guys was Jake but I think she just thought that I'd end up dating him."

"Oh," Eli said slowly. He picked up a different bag and went to the pantry on the other side of the kitchen. "So she wants you to date Jake."

"She's been wanting that to happen since we were young," Clare admitted. "I think she lost hope of that happening when I got serious with Owen but now here I am, living with Jake and I think she's coming here to see if anything has happened or will."

"Maybe you should tell her that we're dating so she'd get off your case."

Clare turned around and watched Eli mindlessly putting things away in the pantry. "Are you being serious or are you messing with me, because I can never usually tell," Clare put her hands on her hips. "I doubt lying to my mom would make a good impression."

"Calm down, I was only kidding," he laughed. "I promise to be on my best behavior for your mom. I won't tell her that you broke my shower either…wait."

"What?" Clare turned back to putting things into the cabinet.

"My bathroom isn't fixed, my room isn't ready, that means I'll still be sleeping in your room. Won't your mom be suspicious of that?"

"Oh right," Clare rubbed her temples in frustration. "Uh, we'll say I've been sleeping on the couch since it was my fault that you can't sleep in yours."

Eli shook his head. "Nooo way. We're not gonna make me look like a jerk in front of your mom. If she thinks that I'm demanding to take your room, she'll think I'm an asshole. So we'll say I've been sleeping on the couch if she wants to know."

"Maybe we can avoid that. I won't let her go into either of your rooms. Besides, it would take longer time than we have to clean Adam and Jake's room," Clare replied.

"It would take longer than my room getting fix and your room getting its own bathroom," Eli retorted jokingly. "So any other things we should think of before she comes?"

Clare pondered for a moment. "Is it too late to get a bigger dinner table?"

"Want me to make one?"

Clare couldn't help but smile at the teasing smile on Eli's face. She walked over to him and kissed his cheek softly before giving him a hug. "Thank you so much for this. Now I know at least it won't be a complete disaster."

"We're you actually worried that I'd screw this up?" Eli asked, pulling back slightly.

"No, no, no," Clare quickly assured him. "I was worried that _I_ would."

"Well," Eli cleared his throat and held Clare closer. "I'll make sure that it goes smoothly. Even if it means going to drastic measures."

"I sure hope that drastic measures won't be necessary," Clare laughed. She tilted her head slightly up higher and felt Eli tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. His face was very close to hers now and the familiar hold that Eli had on Clare was making her nervous and excited.

"Would it be weird to say that I really want to kiss you right now?" he asked her softly.

"It is slightly weird," Clare said honestly. "And…"

"Probably not a good idea," Eli sighed. His arms retreated back and Clare stepped away awkwardly.

She put a hand to her hair and made an awkward move out of the kitchen and said, "I should probably get a head start on the cleaning."

"Right," Eli nodded. "I'll put away the rest."

"Thanks," Clare just smiled a small smile and walked away, into her room, and pressed her back against the door. It was getting harder and harder to avoid the feelings she had for Eli.

They were there and she knew it but she had to ignore them. They were _roommates_, for goodness sake. One false move and everything in the apartment goes awkward. They wouldn't be able to escape each other if they wanted to.

But she liked him a lot. He made her feel special, and most importantly, _normal._ Around Owen, she felt quite small. Not in size but in his heart. He was a model, constantly surrounded with beautiful women that made her feel inferior. It was his job to look good and make the people (usually girls) that he shot with look good with him. Clare had to compete.

But Eli made her feel like the number one girl. He gave her his undivided attention when they spoke. He looked her in the eye and smiled at her constantly. He helped her when she didn't even ask.

But could she take the risk and go for it, especially when she had pushed him away a little while ago? When she asked him to cool down with the advances, it was pretty much a nicer way to reject him. Clare never thought of it to be a permanent rejection though. She just needed some time. He also needed time. It wasn't like his feelings for Imogen went away quickly. But after he got his stuff back, Eli was more alive than usual. He had more energy, he was noticeably happier, and because of that, Clare was happier.

But roommates dating…that is a recipe for disaster waiting to happen. And Clare couldn't and didn't want to take that risk. At least, not yet.

Not while her mother was around.

"What the hell is that?"

Clare heard Eli yell loudly and she went out of her room quickly and walked into the living room. "What's going….on…"

Near the door was Adam and a massive dog, its head reaching Adam's mid-thigh. Clare knew little about dogs but she recognized this one to be a golden retriever and a fully grown one at that.

"That's a dog," Clare observed loudly.

"Yes Clare, this is a dog. His name is Bruce," Adam patted the dogs head lovingly.

"Bruce?" Eli questioned.

"Bruce Wayne," Clare sighed. "Batman."

"Seems like someone has been reading my comics without permission," Adam said, leading Bruce closer to the couch. Adam took a seat while Bruce laid down on the floor near his feet. Clare and Eli stood near, looking at them curiously. Adam looked up and asked, "What?"

"You brought a dog over here and you're asking 'what'?" Clare said incredulously. "A dog!"

"So? You bought a rabbit without asking us," Adam shrugged.

"A rabbit that lives in a cage, Adam," Clare rubbed her temples again. "And my mom is visiting in a few days! Is the dog—"

"_Bruce_," Adam corrected.

"Is _Bruce_ even trained?"

"I don't know, I guess we'll find out," Adam said easily. "What's for dinner?"

"Adam, my mom is visiting on Saturday and I can't handle this right now!"

"Yeah dude, I don't know if I'm gonna like having to watch out for dog sh…I mean, you know what I mean. Plus, it's an apartment. It's not going to be easy or quick getting Bruce down to do its business outside when he needs to. And plus, didn't they say that we couldn't have a dog?" Eli asked.

"Guys, please," Adam stood up from the couch. "He won't be a hassle. I'll take care of him mostly, all you guys need to do is love him and let me keep him. And I promise I'll clean up after him and vacuum the couch when needed. Just look at its face!"

Adam knelt down beside Bruce and titled its chin up to Eli and Clare. The pair looked at each other and back at the dog and just melted.

"Fine," Eli gave in. "Where'd you find him anyways?"

"Katie and I were visiting a dog pound," Adam answered. "She found a dog, I found Bruce. Don't worry, he's been checked out. All good."

"Where is he going to sleep?" Clare asked. "It's not like we have a lot of space and he definitely can't stay in your room. Jake would probably step on him in the middle of the night."

"True," Adam agreed. "What about right there?" He pointed right next to the couch, near an empty corner. "I have a little bed for him already. I'll buy him something more comfortable eventually but that would do for now, right?"

"I guess," Clare sighed. She knelt down to Bruce and kissed its head. "You're lucky you're adorable. Hopefully my mom doesn't freak out seeing you."

"So why is your mom visiting?" Adam asked.

"Just to see where I live," Clare replied. "So that means—"

"Good behavior, don't be stupid, all that stuff, got it," Adam nodded. "But you should probably tell Jake to actually put on a shirt once in a while, while your mom is visiting. Why the hell does he do that?"

"I don't know but he better look presentable for my mom. Speaking of Jake, where is he?"

Eli and Adam both shrugged. "He should've been here an hour ago, his class ended already," Clare said. "Whatever, just as long as he's here to help clean up."

"Jake? Clean?"

All three burst out laughing.

* * *

><p>"Clare, do you really think that bringing me over for dinner would make the dinner less awkward? It probably won't even be awkward. You're getting too worked up about this."<p>

Clare was walking around in circles in her room. She had been cleaning for the past few days, making sure everything was spotless, and now she was looking over her room again and again just so her mom had no reason to point out anything.

"My mother wasn't thrilled with this idea Alli, I'm just making sure that she has no reason to leave this dinner still feeling the same way," Clare said over the phone. "Are you sure you can't come?"

"I'm actually busy before that time so I wouldn't have time to get changed and go, plus Dave and I, we're doing something tonight," Alli said. "And didn't you say that the dinner table was only for four? If I go, there'd be six people eating off of one tiny table."

"I really should've taken up Eli's offer about the table," Clare mumbled to herself. She was fixing the comforter on her bed and sad down on it. "Wait, isn't Dave in Ottawa?"

"He came home early," Alli answered quickly. "I gotta go. Good luck with dinner and tell your mom I said hi."

"Okay bye," Clare said but Alli had hung up already. She put her phone on her bedside table and laid back on her bed, fixing her black pants and crossing her arms over her stomach.

She was nervous. Not because of her mother, she loved her dearly, but she just wanted her mother to have a good impression of her living situation and not have anything judgmental to say. Helen was infamous with her judgmental statements and Clare often felt embarrassed about them. This time, she just wanted things to be perfect.

"Hey, I finished cleaning the other bathroom," Eli poked his head into Clare's room. "Jake called and said he'd be a little late and Adam's on his way home."

Clare checked the time. _2:33._ "Is that enough time for a nap?"

"I'd say so," Eli replied smiling. "Why, too nervous?"

"I'm being silly, aren't I?" Clare asked. She pursed her lips to the side. "I can't help it. I just want things to be perfect."

"They will be," Eli assured her. He came and sat beside at the edge of her bed. "I guess this is a bad time to tell you that my parents want to visit soon. I told them that your mom was coming and Cece thought it was a good idea to come also. They've been here, they just haven't met you and they really want to."

"They do?" Clare smiled a little bit.

"Yeah, they really want to meet my favorite author," he teased. Eli moved to lay beside her on the bed. "Wow, you're right. This is comfortable."

"I told you," Clare poked his side. She moved around a bit to get more comfortable and felt Eli's arm easing over her shoulders and creating a good resting place for Clare's neck. She turned her head and looked up at him, narrowing her eyes. "Nice move. Very smooth."

"Thank you," Eli adjusted his body and coaxed Clare to resting her head on his shoulder. "Come on, let's take a nap."

"You too?" Clare laid on her side now, her head on his shoulder and a hand tentatively over his chest. She could feel his faint heartbeat and his breath tickling the top of her head.

"Yeah, cleaning the bathroom tired me out," Eli yawned after his sentence. "I'll set my mental alarm clock for 4:30 so you can start cooking then."

"I'll be really angry if your mental alarm clock doesn't work."

"Just close your eyes and go to sleep. Trust me. You trust me right?"

Clare smiled to herself. "I do."

* * *

><p>"So…"<p>

Clare lifted a forkful of pasta into her mouth and waited for someone to talk. Her mother was sitting across from her, where Eli usually was, and Eli was in Jake's place, since he had yet to come home.

"Either of you two have girlfriends?" Helen asked.

"Mom!"

"Clare, it's just a question."

"Actually Mrs. Edwards, I do," Adam said and Clare shot her head toward him. "Her name's Katie."

"Girlfriend?" Clare asked. "Since when do you call her your girlfriend?"

"Since I asked her to be?"

Eli reached over to bump fists with Adam, congratulating him, and Clare put her hand over Adam's. "I'm so happy for you," she said genuinely. "I knew you and Katie would be great together."

"Thanks Clare," Adam replied smiling.

"So Eli, what about you?" Helen turned her attention to him now.

"No, no girlfriend," Eli admitted. "The girl I like is focused on more things other than dating someone."

"Sounds like a good one."

Eli agreed and smiled to himself. "I think so."

"So do you work?"

"Part time at a music store," he answered. "But mostly just school."

"Interesting," Helen nodded. "Any interests?"

"Uh…books, I like books," Eli said, gulping nervously. Clare was amused at the fact that Eli seemed nervous, like he was on a job interview. His leg was shaking up and down and she noticed how he kept rubbing his palms on his jeans.

"Have you read Clare's book?" Helen asked.

"I have," Eli glanced over at Clare, smiling brightly. "It's actually my favorite, way before I met Clare."

"It's true," Adam backed him up. "He was obsessed with the book. Wouldn't shut up about it actually."

"I like you two," Helen said out of nowhere. "I have to admit, I was unsure about my daughter staying in an apartment with several boys but you two are keepers. Now I wonder where Jacob is."

"Ha, Jacob," Adam chuckled under his breath.

"He said he'd only be a little late and I thought he'd be here by now. Sorry mom," Clare apologized. "At least you're staying a few more days, right?"

"That reminds me, boys, clear your schedule for dinner on Tuesday, I'm taking all of you out for dinner. I'm sure Clare has you eating healthy but I think it's time to splurge on that and have some good, restaurant food."

Clare could tell that her mother genuinely liked her roommates and she was thankful for this. Not only has her mother continuously complimented them but she had no weird comments or facial expressions. Usually, Clare just watched Helen's facial expressions and most would be fake but there were no fake gestures or looks. She really did like Eli and Adam.

"Thank you for the dinner hun," Helen gave Clare a tight hug at the front door. Clare helped Helen into her jacket and waved her goodbye and closed the door behind her.

She turned around on her heels, facing a relieved looking Adam and Eli, and ran to them, engulfing both in a hug. "SUCCESS!" she exclaimed loudly.

"That was more stressful than I thought it'd be," Eli admitted.

"I thought it was fine," Adam shrugged. "She wasn't drilling me though. I felt like she was just throwing question after question at Eli."

"You handled it well though," Clare assured Eli. "My mom can be intimidating but you, you both, won her over."

"I'm exhausted," Eli plopped down on the couch. Bruce jumped up onto the couch next to him and rested his head on Eli's lap. "I wonder what happened to Jake."

"I don't know but he better have had a good reason," Clare said bitterly. "I'm gonna go wash the dishes." She headed to the kitchen but stopped and turned around. "Thank you guys so much. Really, I owe you. You really did win her over."

"It wasn't a big deal Clare, it was just dinner," Adam said easily, leaning back on the couch. "Had good food, had good company, it was all good."

"I just really appreciate it," Clare said. "You guys are great."

"We know," Eli joked.

* * *

><p>Clare finally finished washing the dishes and after wiping down the counters and the table, she turned the kitchen lights off and headed to her room. But she noticed that there was still someone on the couch. Eli had fallen asleep there, hand on Bruce's head. She grinned at the sight but remembered that the couch was uncomfortable and he'd be in pain in the morning for sleeping in a sitting position along with the couch not being built for sleeping on.<p>

She whispered his name as she leaned over him. She shook his shoulder and he slowly woke up. He smiled when he looked at Clare and said, "The tables have turned."

"Sure looks like it," She smiled. "It's not late, it's only 9 but I thought that I'd wake you up to get you back to my room."

"Good, I don't think I would've forgiven you if you let me wake up in pain," he laughed. Both of them got ready for bed and Clare waited for Eli to come back from the bathroom before getting into bed.

She wasn't sure if inviting Eli to sleep on the bed as well was a good idea but she _did_ owe him. What she witnessed today with Eli and her mom, it made her warm up more to the idea of _her_ and Eli. This could work. Maybe. Her mother would approve, she was sure. And if she and him fought, they could work it out.

Her thoughts were paused as Eli came into the room, holding a bottle of water. He started making his sleeping arrangements on the floor silently until—

"Wait! I thought we had a deal that you'd sleep here too?"

Eli looked at her confusedly. "I was kidding. I tend to do that, you know."

"Well…I'm not," Clare attempted to not sound awkward but it didn't really work. So she just slid further onto her bed and patted the empty spot. It took Eli a minute to take her seriously but eventually he slid under the covers and laid down.

"Your mom is really nice," Eli said in the darkness. "She was definitely looking out for you tonight. Trying to make sure we're not bad guys."

"How could she think that you two sweethearts are bad guys?" Clare asked rhetorically. "You guys are wonderful."

"Eh, you give us too much credit," Eli turned onto his side and faced Clare. "When Adam admitted to having a girlfriend, your mom started drilling me with questions. That's when I got nervous. Because all of a sudden in your mom's mind, I'm the single guy that could go after you and she was just making sure that if that happened, I was okay. I think I did a good job."

"I think so too," Clare said softly. She moved her body closer to his. "I was wondering…"

"What?" Eli asked, his eyes looking down at her.

Clare gulped and at that moment, she chickened out. "Nevermind," she sighed.

"Okay," Eli yawned. "Goodnight."

"Night," Clare whispered. Eli turned onto his opposite side and Clare stared at the back of his shirt. She slapped herself mentally, having gotten the perfect chance but just blowing it away because she was scared and nervous.

"Next time," she said to herself. "The next perfect moment, I'll tell him." She just wasn't sure when that would be.


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you for all the reviews! I hope you guys liked that surprise chapter on Monday! I had time to write so I thought after getting so much response from chapter 9 that I'd give you guys another chapter quickly. :) Oh and it's a three day weekend for me so I might have the chance to update early again! But you guys tell me if you want another chapter quick. :P**

**I said on Twitter (hereinyourarms_) and Tumblr (onlyhereinyourarms) that secrets are revealed in this chapter and yes, there's many secrets revealed. At least 3. And I also said that a G1 character makes an appearance! So go follow me on both for more sneak peeks such as these!**

**Thanks for reading! Please review!**

* * *

><p>Clare woke up with arms wrapped around her waist. She found herself being cradled closely by Eli, still dead asleep, and she wished to stay in his arms and relish in the moment but she knew she had to get up. She had no classes or work today but remembered that now that there was a dog in the house, she had to check if it had to go out or eat. Clare carefully extracted Eli's arms away and after Eli comfortably settled back to sleeping comfortably, she climbed out of the bed and put on a sweatshirt.<p>

She went into the living room and found Bruce awake in his little bed and noticed the faint smell of coffee coming from the kitchen. Adam was sitting at the table on his laptop and sipping on coffee.

"Morning," he greeted. "How'd you sleep?"

"Well," Clare answered, trying to hide her smile. "Really well."

"I'm not going to ask," Adam laughed. "Hey, wanna take Bruce on a walk with me?"

"Sure," Clare replied. "Hey, is Jake home?"

Adam shook his head. "Bed's empty. Did you get a call or anything?"

"Nope," Clare sighed. "I hope he's okay. And if he is okay, I'm killing him."

"And you were worried that dinner would go terribly," Adam teased. "Come on, let's go."

* * *

><p>"So…I've been meaning to ask you something," Adam said slowly. He and Clare were on their way to the park with Bruce, who seemed to be having the time of his life sniffing around and racing in front of Adam and Clare. It was a beautiful day out, the sun peeking through small clouds and the wind creating a nice breeze. Clare kept her hands comfortably in her hoodie pockets and her eyes on Bruce.<p>

"What?" Clare said.

"I want to know…what inspired your book," Adam said hesitantly. Clare stiffened up and closed her eyes. "Unless you don't want to say. I don't mean to pry or anything but you know I've read it and I can't help but wonder what made you write something like that."

"Like what? I wrote about not submitting yourself to strive for perfection," Clare defended.

"Yeah but I was wondering what made you write that. If I didn't know any better, I'd think that something bad happened in your life that made you come to that realization. I have my theories but—"

"You have theories?" Clare asked incredulously. "So you've been thinking about what bad things have happened to me?"

"You know what I mean," Adam rolled his eyes.

"Fine, I want to know what your theories are and then maybe I'll tell you."

"Okay." Adam and Clare sat down on a park bench. Adam kept the leash unlocked so Bruce can wander around them but without getting lost. Clare waited for Adam to start and she started to get nervous.

What if he guessed right? What if he told other people? She was afraid of her secret getting out, not because she wanted to deny what happened to her but she knew she would be judged. She hated being judged, everyone does, but no one would expect Clare Edwards, her old high school's resident saint to have gone through what she did.

"Don't get offended or anything," Adam started cautiously. "But I've picked up on a lot of signs. Even Eli has notice some things and he told me, and it just kept the theories going."

"Eli…?" Clare asked.

"I'm sure he has his own thoughts but he hasn't shared them with me," he told her. "Just from living with you these couple of months and getting to know you, I just noticed things."

"Actually, I've been meaning to ask you something too," Clare said. "But you go first."

"Okay," Adam nodded. "I…think that…you used to be either too into alcohol or you had an eating disorder."

Clare pressed her lips together. "Which one?"

"The latter," Adam answered. "It's just that…you only cook healthy food, I've noticed that while you finish your plate, there's not much to start with, and Eli said that you only ate a salad during my first date with Katie and Alli practically had to force you too. I know guys don't usually pick up on this but I had to, you're my friend."

Clare sighed and gripped the bench. When she didn't say anything for a minute, Adam continued. "I think your book showed that struggle. You wanted to be perfect but you also realized that what you were doing wasn't healthy so you chose to stop and focus on getting your body healthy instead of striving for perfection that no one can reach. Your book doesn't specify what it was you were fighting and while I thought it was genius that you went through 300 pages without saying 'I was addicted to something' or 'I had an eating disorder', I just knew that what that problem was, it's still a struggle."

"I want you to know," Adam still went on. "That I don't think it makes you weak. You don't want people to know and I get that. We all have our secrets. But that quote Eli said was his favorite that night you moved in, I think that's what sums up whatever happened to you. Every day you go on, you're even stronger and you shouldn't forget that. Sometimes I even forget that I've thought about this because you handle yourself like nothing is wrong but then I see you at dinner and I remember. So I thought that one person in the apartment knowing about…this might be good so you can have someone to talk to. I don't know who else knows but I want to be someone you can go to if you're struggling. Not that you struggle, just in case."

Clare smiled to herself before replying. "I thought I could get away with this entire thing but I can't. I didn't realize how many clues I put down for you to notice. It's true, I had an eating disorder. But you have to remember that I spent years around models, around that business, and the pressure gets to you. It wasn't because I was ashamed of my body because I was and am okay with the body I have. It was the pressure to look a certain way, the pictures, the models, the everything about that business that changed me."

"Did you try to be a model or something?"

"Tried and failed," Clare confirmed. "When I failed, I got discouraged. That's when I started starving myself. Even then, I still failed and I stopped trying to become a model but I didn't stop starving myself. It wasn't until I...I had a panic attack one day and was sent to the hospital. Only Alli, my parents, and Owen knew."

"But why did you stay around that business even after you go better?"

"I loved Owen, or I thought I did," Clare sighed. "And he did help me get better. After that, I got help and wrote the book. It was a good therapeutic process and it helped a lot. That's why I was surprised that Jake said that one of his male roommates loved my book. I just don't think Eli realizes what it truly meant."

"I'll let Eli tell you what that book meant to him," Adam said. "And I guess since you came clean to me, I'll come clean to you?"

Clare nodded and waited. She hadn't given a lot of thought about what she had seen between the buttons of Adam's shirt when she was helping him pick out what to wear on his date with Katie. But she made her assumptions and that assumption didn't matter. He was Adam to her and no way could she think otherwise.

"I'm a Female to Male Transgender. I knew since I was really young. I won't bore you with the details but Jake and Eli know," Adam said. "They wanted me to tell you when I was ready."

"Well I'm glad you told me upfront. And don't tell Eli or Jake, okay? I'll them when _I'm_ ready, just not yet."

"I understand," Adam replied. "Come on, I think it's time to feed Bruce. And me. I haven't eaten anything."

Clare started laughing. "Okay, let's get my boys fed then."

* * *

><p>As Adam scarfed down the leftovers from their dinner with Clare's mom, Clare put some dog food into Bruce's food bowl. Bruce patiently waited until Clare pointed him over to his food and Clare was amused at how extremely patient the dog really was.<p>

"You chose a great dog Adam," Clare said as she patted Bruce's head. "I just don't know how we'll be able to sneak him back and forth without the landlord noticing."

"Is there really a rule about dogs?" Adam asked with a full mouth. "Bruce isn't going to bother anyone."

"I know," Clare sat cross-legged beside Bruce and leaned her back on the kitchen cabinets. "I'm just worried that they'll make us get rid of him if he does wind up bothering people."

"That won't happen," Adam assured her. "If it does, I'll take care of it."

"Fine," Clare said.

The two heard the front door opening and Bruce started barking loudly. Clare quickly went to comfort Bruce, hushing at him and after a few seconds, he went back to eating his food.

Jake came trudging into the kitchen, still wearing the same clothes from yesterday, and Clare raised her eyebrows. "Oh, look who comes 12 plus hours late for dinner," she said sarcastically. "Where's your late pass, mister?"

"Dinner?" Jake asked. He was barely paying attention, he just started bringing out cereal and milk.

"The one with my mom, Jake. I called and texted you over and over."

Jake sat down at the table across from Adam and poured himself a bowl of cereal. "Didn't check my phone," he shrugged. "Sorry."

Clare stared at Jake and glared at him. When did he turn rude?

"Fine," she surrendered and stood up. She wanted to ask where he was but didn't bother, knowing she'd just get annoyed. Clare walked out of the kitchen and in her room, found Eli still sleeping. It was around 10 o'clock now and she was surprised that Eli was sleeping in this late. After waking him up, he went to his room and Clare proceeded to get ready for her day.

She was planning on going book shopping, since she needed new reading material. She said goodbye to Adam and Eli, since Jake had left again as she was getting ready, and walked to the closest book store she could find.

She browsed through the shelves and grabbed a few that she found interesting and sat down in a reading area to see if she liked any of them. After an hour, she heard someone calling her name.

Clare looked up and barely recognized the one calling her but then remembered who she was. Her name was Manny Santos, an old friend of her sister's. "Clare, is that you?"

Clare smiled and went to greet Darcy's friend. "Yeah. Hi Manny, nice to see you again."

"You too!" Manny said happily. "What brings you to this area?"

"I go to school close by," Clare answered.

"Ah, I see. And how's Darcy? Still changing the world?"

Clare chuckled. "Of course. So what are you doing back? I thought you went to LA."

"Yes but guess what?" Manny flashed a big ring on her left hand. "I'm getting married!"

Clare mustered up as much excitement as she could to congratulate Manny. Several minutes went on of continuous gushing from Manny about her upcoming wedding to her boyfriend of several years, Jay Hogart. Clare remembered Jay from her time at Degrassi. Jay was notorious at the school, having been part of the shooting that left a student paralyzed. Clare was surprised to hear that Jay was the one to capture Manny's heart but she seemed genuinely happy.

"You should absolutely come to the wedding!" Manny said excitedly. Before Clare could protest, Manny was already bringing out a wedding invitation from her purse. "It's pretty soon so I'm sorry for the short notice but it'd be great if you came."

"I'll call you when I know for sure if I can," Clare said. "Congratulations again!"

"Thank you," Manny gave her another hug. "Bring a date, okay? Surely you have a boyfriend to show off there. I have to go so just call me."

Clare nodded and waved goodbye as Manny left the bookstore. She sat back down to her books and leaned back against her chair. She checked the invitation and it said that the wedding was next week. Clare looked through the planner on her phone to check if she had anything to do that day. She mentally wished that she couldn't come to the wedding, because weddings made her uncomfortable and Manny was expecting her to bring a date. But her entire day was free except for a deadline that day. She would be able to go to the wedding but she wasn't sure if she wanted to.

She left the bookstore after buying her books and on her way home, she got a text. It was from Owen and she contemplated just deleting it but ended up reading it anyways.

_Ran into Jay Hogart today. Used to fix my car. He invited me to his wedding and remembered that we were dating and said if you wanted to come with me, you could. So you up for it?_

Clare rolled her eyes. "_Did he really just ask me to the wedding?_" she thought. She angrily typed a text back to him.

_Ran into his fiancé Manny and she invited me too. But I already have a date. Sorry._

She felt good as she sent the text and walked into the apartment gliding on her feet. She greeted Bruce on her way to her room and heard some commotion coming from Eli's room. She noticed the tool boxes and materials outside Eli's door and remembered that this was the day they were starting to replace Eli's carpet.

Instead of getting in the way, Clare just went into her room and sat on her bed. She laid down on the side that Eli slept on and could smell his scent on the pillow he had left there. It was a mixture of his body wash and her shampoo. _So he uses the same shampoo I do_, she noted in her mind.

She tried to take a nap but the noises from Eli's room were too loud for her to go to sleep. So she made her way out of her room and in the process, she literally ran into Jake.

"Oomph," she made the noise as she stepped back from running into him.

"Watch it," Jake muttered under his breath.

"Watch your tone," Clare retorted. "Where's this sudden rudeness coming from?"

"Nowhere," he said. He sidestepped around her but Clare caught his arm.

"You owe my mom an apology for skipping out on dinner, which I told you about ahead of time, and not having the decency to give a reason," she said to him.

"Fine, I'll call your mom and apologize. Happy?"

Clare was surprised at how quickly Jake had changed in front of her eyes. One day he was practically fighting for her attention. Now he was completely pushing her away.

"If you're going to be this way, fine. But don't be rude to my mom. I'm sure you wouldn't be happy if I was rude to Glen," Clare walked away annoyed, plopping down on the couch and turning on the TV. Bruce went over and placed his chin on the couch beside Clare and she smiled, rubbing the top of his head.

"At least you can't disappoint me," she said to Bruce. "First Owen did, now he invited me to go with him to a wedding. Can you believe that? It's ridiculous right?" Clare moved Bruce's head up and down. "I know, I know," she said in a kid-like voice. "Then I sent a text to him saying I had a date already but I don't. So guess who's stuck finding a date?"

Bruce barked, making Clare laugh. "That's right. Me. If only I could bring you as my date then I wouldn't have to worry about anything."

* * *

><p>Tuesday came and Clare, Eli, Adam, and thankfully Jake, were on their way to meet Clare's mom at a fancy restaurant in downtown Toronto. Between the two days since Jake and Clare's hallway confrontation, neither of them spoke to each other. The communication went through Adam or Eli, who were frankly tired of the childish games.<p>

"I hope you guys don't act like this in front of Clare's mom," Adam said from the backseat. Eli was driving, Clare sat next to him, and Jake and Adam were in the back. "This is stupid."

"I know," Clare agreed. "But Jake won't talk to me so why should I make an effort with him?"

"At least be civil with each other during dinner then you can go back to hating each other, if that's what this is," Eli said.

"Well it's not my problem so whatever it is," Clare looked over her shoulder to look at Jake. "Suppress it for two hours, okay?" Clare watched as Jake rolled his eyes without looking at her. She looked away and calmed herself down. Jake was acting immature for the both of them, so Clare was going to be the one to be mature.

They got to the restaurant and after getting their reserved table, Clare kept glancing at her phone for the time. Her mother usually wasn't late but she was ten minutes late now.

"Where could she be?" she muttered to herself and put her phone away.

"Probably stuck in traffic," Eli suggested.

Jake cleared his throat while he had his drink up to his lips and Clare shot a look at him. "Are you trying to insinuate something?" she asked.

Jake shook his head and put his drink down. Clare put her arms on the table. "So now it's the silent treatment? What are you, seven?"

"Calm down Clare, save the freaking out for later," Jake commented.

"Later?" Clare scoffed. "What does that—"

"Clare!"

The four of them turned their heads and saw Helen Edwards walking over their direction. Then Helen stepped aside, pulling someone next to her and Clare's jaw dropped.

"Now," Jake whispered. "Freak out now."

Helen approached the table, hands clasped with someone, and Clare was frozen. She looked away from her mother and bit her lip from exploding on her mother at the restaurant.

"Hi," Eli and Adam both stood up and held their hands out to Helen's guest. They both introduced themselves to him.

"Nice to meet you," the man said. "Jake has said a lot about you two."

Adam and Eli glanced at each other. "Jake?" They looked down at Jake who tilted his drink at them and sipped from it.

"Oh, I'm Glen Martin, Jake's dad," the man introduced himself.

Now it was Adam and Eli's turn to drop their jaws. As Glen and Helen sat at the table beside each other, Clare still didn't look at her mother.

"Clare," Helen said softly, reaching for her daughter's hand. Clare took it away from the table before her mother could reach it. "Clare, don't be like that."

"Like what? Blindsided?" Clare whispered harshly. "You bring your boyfriend to dinner and he happens to be my roommate's dad and oh, I was under the impression that you and _my_ dad were still married. Sure mom, I won't act like this."

"If Jake can take this maturely, why can't you?" Helen asked.

Clare looked over at Jake who had a pained look on his face. "I can't believe he didn't tell me," Clare said to herself. Then she turned back to Helen. "And you should've told me instead of taking me out to a fancy dinner to break the news. Did you do this just so I wouldn't throw a fit?"

"Clare, be mature about—"

"No, I won't be mature about this," Clare stood up from the table. "I'm leaving. Have a safe trip home."

She started storming away from the table and before she could reach the doors, a hand pulled on her arm. Clare harshly pulled it away from the grip.

"Clare, come on," Eli pleaded. "Don't just storm out like this."

"Don't tell me how to react," Clare told him. "I need to get out of here. I can't be around her or Jake or Glen or…I just need to go."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Eli offered.

"No," she said more harshly than she meant to. "I'll meet you at home," Clare turned around quickly and left. She looked left and right on the sidewalk and just picked right and headed down that direction.

She stopped at a "Don't Walk" signal and watched as the cars whizzed by her. But once the sign changed to "Walk", she felt someone come up beside her.

"Did you really think I'd let you walk alone at night?" Eli asked slyly, pulling Clare close to him and helped her across the street.


	12. Chapter 12

**I apologize so much about this chapter being so terribly late. School is so hectic right now and this is the first night I've been able to actually sit down and focus on writing the chapter instead of doing homework. I'm hoping to be back to regular weekend updates soon.**

**If you've seen the Degrassi special and wanna talk about it, go visit my Twitter (hereinyourarms_) or my Tumblr (onlyhereinyourarms). Won't be talking about it on here in case someone hasn't watched it.**

**I hope you guys like this chapter! I think you will. :)**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**

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><p>"You can let go of me now, I'm not going to run away." Eli and Clare approached a less hectic street and Eli had yet to release Clare's waist.<p>

"How can I be sure of that?" he asked her, only pulling her closer.

"Have I run away from you before?"

"Not literally." Clare noticed how Eli stuffed his opposite hand into his pocket and looked down as he walked as he said that reply. She looked straight ahead and decided that if Eli wouldn't let up, she'd give up. So she took her own arm and put it tentatively around Eli's, allowing them to be closer. If you passed them on the sidewalk you'd think they were together.

"So are we heading somewhere or are we just walking?" Clare asked.

"I have an idea, just stay close," Eli whispered and together they just continued to walk. Eli would lead them left and right, down several streets, and their grip on each other never faltered. They didn't talk either. Clare just trusted him.

Her mind was racing earlier with thoughts of her mom and Glen and Jake and the entire situation but when Eli pulled her close, her mind stopped racing and the only thought in her mind became how his arm was strong as the grip on her waist was firm yet soft. The warmth of his skin seemed to be more burning than usual, or maybe that was because she felt like his touch on her waist, even through her clothes, was fire. She seemed to fit perfectly against the side of Eli's body, them both just melting to each other.

Eli distracted her and Clare was never more grateful.

"So what are you really upset about?" Eli asked after the silence. They continued to walk down an empty sidewalk.

"What do you mean?" she replied.

"Is it your mom not telling you or your mom dating someone or...Jake, I don't know, there's just a lot to be upset about. What are you really upset about?"

"I don't know," Clare sighed. "I guess mostly…my mom not telling me."

"I get that," Eli sympathized. "You said you thought your parents were still together?"

"Exactly!" Clare exclaimed. She was happy no one was around to hear her because she had said that so loud. "How could she not tell me? How could neither of my parents bother to tell me that they weren't together anymore? They should at least have the decency to tell their daughter that her parents aren't together."

Eli nodded and Clare continued to rant. "Tell me by phone, tell me by email, just tell me. Don't just show up to dinner with my roommates and announce that you're dating my friend's dad. You just don't do that."

"I think tha—"

"And another thing," Clare cut Eli off. "Jake _knew_. He knew that our parents were together and he didn't even tell me. He just decides to freeze me out and be a jerk to me. If I knew he'd act like this I would've never moved in."

"I can't even imagine where I'd be if you hadn't moved in," Eli admitted chuckling.

Clare tilted her head up to him. "What?"

Eli looked around a bit and pointed to a vacant spot on a brick wall beside some abandoned store. "Can we sit or something? I'm tired from walking."

Clare glanced around and pointed, "Here?"

"Clare, no one's going to come out of somewhere to kill us. Besides, we have a little while until the sun goes down so we're fine. Come on." Eli sat down on the sidewalk, his back against the brick wall, and Clare still seemed skeptical.

"It's gross," she commented. "Sitting on the street. Seriously Eli, can we just…"

Eli proceeded to take his leather jacket off and lay it down on the ground beside him. "No!" Clare reached down to take the jacket off the cement and started wiping the jacket off. "Do you know how much money it is to have this dry cleaned? Are you crazy?"

"Then just sit next to me, I'm sure what you're wearing would be easy to just throw in the wash," Eli patted the spot beside him, giving Clare an inviting look, and finally Clare gave in and sat down carefully next to Eli. She held Eli's jacket in her arms protectively.

"This is dumb," Clare whined. "Why do we have to sit here?"

"We don't," Eli shrugged.

"Then why—"

Clare started to stand up but Eli grasped her wrist gently. "Humor me."

"Fine," Clare rolled her eyes and sat back down.

"So what were we talking about before?" Eli asked.

"What you meant when you said that you couldn't imagine where you'd be if I hadn't moved in?" Clare asked this as a question but this was a statement. She remembered what Eli said perfectly.

"Oh, right," Eli pressed his head back against the wall. "What I meant by that is…imagine if I'd never met you. One, I'd still be reading you book over and over pretty much obsessing about it. Two, I wouldn't be eating this healthy or maybe starve to death. And three, I'm pretty sure I'd still be with Imogen as she continued to cheat on me."

"Oh," Clare replied without looking back at him. "I see." _So he just finds me convenient? For food, for finding out about his girlfriend for him. That's all it is._ Clare felt uncomfortably then and while Eli looked the opposite direction, she made a little bit of a larger gap between the two of them. Here she was thinking that he felt more about her than just someone who makes his food.

"And another thing," Eli said out of nowhere. He turned his head back to Clare. "If you weren't around, I probably wouldn't have to struggle with the whole 'don't date your roommate' thing." He started laughing to himself and put a hand to his face.

"So…that's a bad thing, right?" Clare said awkwardly. She could feel her face burning red.

"It's something I'm willing to go through," he admitted. "Dating your roommate could be…"

"Messy?" Clare offered the word.

"Yes," Eli agreed.

"Actually Eli, I—" Clare had no idea what she was about to do. But this was the _perfect moment_ she'd been waiting for. To tell Eli that she wanted to try this out, to be together.

Clare jumped as she felt something vibrating under her hand. "Oh, my phone," Eli quickly grabbed it from the jacket pocket. "Sorry," he said and answered it. "Hey Adam. No, we're just walking around right now, letting Clare let off some steam." Eli winked at Clare and she just smiled and traced a button on Eli's jacket. "We'll meet you guys at home then. Okay, bye."

"What was that about?" Clare asked when Eli hung up.

"Adam said that your mom left with Glen and he and Jake are going back home," he answered. "He sounded worried about you."

"Adam's a good guy," Clare thought out loud.

"He is. He's gotten me through a lot," Eli said. "Have I told you that I'm bipolar?"

Clare was slightly taken aback, not because she was appalled but simply shocked. Bipolar? He must be doing really well with it because he doesn't act or seem like a guy with two sides to him. "I had no idea," she said slowly. "I…I don't know what to say."

"You don't need to say anything," he assured her. "My point with telling you is that Adam, he really helped me through before being diagnosed and afterwards. He's always been there for me and I'm glad he's doing the same for you."

Clare thought back to that morning a few days ago when they exchanged secrets. Adam was being what he was to Eli years ago; the support system. And she was grateful for him. So much so that she wanted to do something nice for him.

"I think I'm going to invite Adam to come with me to a wedding," Clare said. "Knowing the bride, it's going to be quite a party and probably tons of food. Think he'd go for it?"

"For you, anything." Clare looked at Eli curiously who then quickly saved himself. "I mean, Adam would do anything. Well, crap, I meant me originally but Adam would definitely go with you. He'd be the best wedding date you could ask for."

"Great," Clare grinned. "I don't think Katie would mind if Adam came with me. When is the wedding?" she started thinking out loud. "I don't think I…crap. No no no no no."

Clare pulled her phone out and checked the calendar on it. "Not this weekend…please not…of course. Oh of course."

"What?" Eli hastily said and looked over at Clare's phone to see what she was looking at.

"The wedding is this Saturday," Clare pointed at the screen.

"Yeah, it's also a day that ends with 'day.' What's wrong?"

"I have a concert to cover in Vancouver the night before and the wedding is in the morning the next day! There's no way I can go to the concert and not be tired to drive back here and get to the wedding," Clare groaned. She'd have to pick one of the other and since the concert was something she had to cover for the paper, she had to choose the concert. Even if it was for some band she didn't really know. It must be an older band since it was some type of reunion show.

"Why would you have to cover a concert? Critics do that," Eli said confused.

"Yeah but apparently this concert's some kind of big deal. It's a reunion show and—"

"Wait a minute," Eli's eyes got large and Clare backed away instinctively when Eli whipped his head to her. "This isn't the Dead Hand reunion show is it?"

"Dead Hand! Yes, that's—"

"I'll take you," Eli quickly offered, an excited smile on his face. "I'll take you and I'll drive to and from and get you and Adam to the wedding on time. Just please, let me come with you."

"Don't you think that _I_ should invite you to come with me?" Clare teased, biting her lip slightly. "What makes you think I have an extra ticket?"

Clare could tell that Eli was about to apologize but she shot him a knowing look and finally, Eli rolled his eyes. "Fine. You can invite who you want."

"Perfect," Clare smiled in return. "Now can we go back home now?"

"Okay." The two got off of the sidewalk and Clare started wiping her clothes, cringing at the dirt that accumulated on it.

"Oh quit being a girl about it, you can wash it," Eli stuck his tongue out and reached for his jacket that was still in Clare's arms.

"Keep that up and I'll be going to the concert alone," Clare retorted and held the jacket out of Eli's reach. "And you're not putting this on, you're only gonna dirty your shirt more."

"If my shirt's already dirty, why does it matter if it gets dirtier?" Eli reached for it again but failed as Clare held it behind her.

"Nope," she giggled, walking away from him a bit, teasingly holding out his jacket. "If you want it, you'll have to come chase after—"

Before she even finished her sentence, Clare was off running. It wasn't long until she felt someone grab her around the waist and lift her off her feet. Suddenly she was pressed up against a random wall, wrists placed beside her head. She still had the jacket in her hand but when Eli held his hand out for it now, with him hovering over her, she didn't have much of a choice but to give it back.

"Here," she grudgingly said. "Enjoy your dirty leather jacket."

"I will, though I might get it cleaned if I end up going to a concert soon," Eli winked. He let go of Clare's arms but stayed standing in front of her. There was little space between them and with the wall right behind Clare, she was trapped.

"You know…I forgot why we're out here," Clare felt silly saying. "I…I don't remember." She stared up at Eli, blushing like mad. Her mind was absolutely blank. How did they end up in some abandoned street?

"Do you want me to remind you?" Eli asked.

"Not really," Clare said honestly. "I'll eventually figure it out but right now…" Clare linked her arm to Eli's and started walking down the sidewalk again.

"How are we going to get home?" she asked.

"First of all…we should probably actually go the right direction." Eli pointed behind them and Clare looked back.

"Oh," she mentally slapped herself and the two turned around. "So…where were you actually going to take me? You said you had an idea of where to go, right?"

Eli pressed his lips together. "Actually," he began to say while he put his jacket around Clare's shoulders. "I just made that up. I have no idea where the hell we are."

"Eli!"

"What? Did you really expect me to know exactly where we were?"

"If you can't navigate through these streets, how can I expect you to get us to Vancouver?"

"Ah," Eli looked triumphant. "So I'm coming with you."

Clare's eyes shifted. "I never said that."

"It was implied, don't you think?"

"How about if you get us home before 10, you can come with me. Is that a good deal?"

Eli held out his hand for her to shake. "Deal."

Clare shook his hand back and then checked her phone. "You have…an hour and a half."

"Do I really? That's good, because the building is just down this road." Eli led Clare to a corner and pointed down the street. Lo and behold, it was their street. Clare's jaw dropped in disbelief and she turned to him.

"You tricked me!" Clare exclaimed, hitting his shoulder.

"Hey, it's not my fault that you made the bet. I just thought I'd get a good laugh out of it. Now I get a good laugh and get to go to the concert," Eli said proudly.

"You're unbelievable," Clare mumbled, turning away and heading towards the building.

"You're gonna honor the bet right?" Eli said from a few feet behind her.

Clare playfully sighed. "I _guess_ so." Then she felt Eli's arm around her shoulders.

"So, your car or mine?"

Clare leaned into him, just like she did when they were walking around earlier. "I think we should get home first and discuss this later."

"Fine," Eli said.

When the two made it into the apartment, they found Adam sitting on the couch with his eyes staring at the TV screen. His thumbs were fiddling away on a controller. "Where did you two go?" Adam asked the two mindlessly.

"Walking," Clare answered. Eli went off into the kitchen and Clare sat down in the living room. "Hey, I have a question to ask."

"Can it wait for a sec…AH! NO!" Adam angrily threw his controller to the other side of the couch. "Damnit. Okay, what's your question?"

Clare suppressed her desire to laugh and just went straight to asking her question. "Do you want to go to a wedding with me on Saturday?"

"A wedding? Don't you think you should ask someone…oh I don't know…like the guy you just spent an hour walking around with? I don't think I'd be that fun of a wedding date," Adam said sheepishly.

"But it won't even be that bad. Plus, there'll be tons and tons of food, I know it. Have you tried Filipino food? The bride's family is Filipino, I think you'd like eating new kinds of food."

Clare knew she got Adam when she had said tons and tons of food and grinned in victory when Adam's face lit up. "Okay, okay, I'm in. Katie won't mind, I'm sure _Eli_ won't either."

"Actually, he and I are going to a concert the night before," Clare admitted shyly. "Well, I haven't officially asked him to come with me but—"

"So you have a date to a concert and a different date to a wedding, all in the span of 24 hours? Clare, I didn't expect this from you."

"Ha ha," Clare said sarcastically. "He offered to give me a ride since I don't think I'd be able to drive that many hours home from a concert plus the wedding's a morning one."

"Don't worry, I'll go get something to wear for it with Katie," Adam assured her. "Go ask Eli to the concert. Oh and…Jake told me to tell you that—"

"I don't wanna know," Clare dismissed it. "I completely forgot about it until now."

"You can't avoid it Clare, not when he's right there."

"He's been avoiding me, I can do the same for the next few days," Clare stood up from the couch. "Thank for coming with me Adam. I promise, it'll be great."

"Who's the wedding for anyways?" Adam asked while reaching for his controller again.

"Manny Santos and Jay Hogart."

"Jay Hogart? Seriously? He used to fix Drew's car when we were going to high school! He's getting married to…the singer, actress, whatever?" Adam asked happily. "That's awesome. You should've started with that. I would've said yes much faster."

"I'll keep that in mind if there's a next time," Clare laughed. "Night." As she walked down the hallway towards her room, she heard Eli walking into the living room and talking to Adam. A lightbulb turned on in her mind and she grabbed one of her old lipsticks from her shared bathroom and walked into Eli's bathroom.

Instead of writing on the mirror, which probably would have scared him, she wrote on the white sink counter: "Come to Dead Hand with me? – Clare"

Smiling at her work, she made her way out of the bathroom and to her room quickly. She changed and got ready for bed. She tried to stay up to hear Eli go into his room but before he did, she fell asleep.

In the morning, she woke up slowly but when she finally did, she noticed a note near her door. She had a déjà-vu moment as she remembered when Eli left her to read part of the book he was writing.

Clare picked up the black paper and in red, the note said: "Thought you'd never ask. I'm in."


	13. Chapter 13

**Firstly, let's pretend I never said Vancouver and replace that with Ottawa. Secondly, I'm too lazy to check the time it would take to go from Toronto to Ottawa so let's pretend that it makes sense. Thirdly, sorry it took a while to get this done. I'm busy, sick, yadda yadda yadda. I know you guys aren't looking for excuses and would rather read the chapter anyways so yeah.**

**Thanks for continuing to read and annoying me to update. It actually works. Bombard me with messages on Tumblr or Twitter. If I don't update, I'll most likely post a sneak peek or something. And I'd make graphics for my story but I neither have the time nor talent for that. (But if you did, that'd be awesome. I don't know what I'd do for you but I'd think of something.)**

**Here's to hoping the next chapter won't take so long to update.**

**- About the chapter: I think this shows the kind of interaction Eli and Clare really have. Hot and cold, and changes really quickly. But I'm 100% sure you'll like it. :D**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**

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><p>The next morning after the disastrous dinner of finding out Helen's marriage situation and dating situation with Jake's dad Glen, and after finding the note under her door, Clare left her bedroom and dreaded seeing Jake. She wanted to ask him what his deal was, why he didn't say anything about their parents, and why he chose to act like a douche rather than just talk to her. Even though she was dreading the conversation, she was planning out what she was going to say.<p>

"_Jake, why didn't you just tell me?"_

"_Do you have something against me that you chose to make me find out like that?"_

"_We're childhood friends, Jake. You didn't have the decency to tell me the truth?"_

But as Clare walked up to the refrigerator, she noticed a note attached to it. It was written in Jake's messy scrawl and Clare took it off the fridge to read it: "_At the cabin with Dad for a week. – Jake_"

Clare was a little relieved. She didn't have to see Jake or have tension around the apartment for a week. But she wondered why Jake ran away also and why she was avoiding the situation.

She chose not to pay attention to it until she had to and just got ready for her day. As she ate breakfast, she thought about her schedule in the week. Today she had classes, Thursday she had work and classes, and Friday was the big day for the concert she was going with Eli for. She really just wanted to get through Wednesday and Thursday because she was so excited for Friday. Not for the concert but just for getting to be with Eli, away from their roommates and at a different setting. This could be the perfect opportunity she was looking for.

"Good morning!" Adam cheerfully said as he came into the kitchen. While getting a coffee mug out of the cabinet, he asked, "Did you ask Eli?"

"I did," Clare nodded. "He said yes."

"Of course," Adam scoffed. "So what's the plan? You guys go to the concert, he'll drive home so you can sleep on the way, and then we go to the wedding?"

"Yup, it's gonna be a hectic 24 hours." she sighed.

"I'm amazed Eli agreed to drive for that long car ride. Ottawa's pretty far."

"I know, but apparently he loves Dead Hand so—"

Adam spat out the drink in his mouth, thankfully not in Clare's direction, and he looked at her in disbelief. "You have tickets to the Dead Hand reunion show?"

"Yeah," Clare replied slowly. "Did I not say which concert it was for?"

"Uh, no! Now I wish you would take Eli to the wedding and me to the concert!"

"I mean, I guess we could switch it," Clare said awkwardly.

Adam breathed in and shook his head. "No, no, you already asked Eli to go to the concert so…man, you guys better take videos and pictures and steal something for me because I can't believe I couldn't get tickets." He held his head in his hands mopingly.

Clare felt bad for not inviting Adam to the concert so she said, "I'll tell you what. I have a backstage pass for before the concert. Maybe I could get something signed for you? Do you have a—"

"Be right back," Adam blurted out and ran out of the kitchen. He came back a minute later holding a few CD's, a poster, and other random things Clare assumed all had to be related to Dead Hand.

"I'm not taking all of those," Clare laughed as Adam rummaged through all of the stuff. "I'll take one, maybe two things."

"Fine," Adam grumbled. "Take…the first Dead Hand CD and…this collectors' item I got off Ebay. Holy crap, they're actually gonna be holding this."

"I'll take a picture of then signing it," Clare promised.

"You know, I went to the Bloomington reunion show with Eli," Adam reminisced. "We were in high school and it was before—"

Adam's head shot up and his lips latched together to stop himself from talking. "Nevermind," he stuttered out and collected his Dead Hand memorabilia. "We just saw it together, it was the best concert I've been to. Make sure Eli has fun okay."

"I'm pretty sure he'll have that covered on his own," Clare smiled. "He begged me to let him come when I said Dead Hand so I'm sure that he's just gonna be focused on them."

"Well as long as he gets you guys back in one piece," Adam stood up from the table and started to leave the kitchen. "Oh wait," he said, turning around. "Did you see Jake's note?"

Clare rolled her eyes. "I did."

"He says he's sorry he didn't tell you," Adam said softly. "I don't know why he didn't but he told me last night that he was sorry."

"Yeah, I'll believe that when I hear it," Clare sighed. "But thanks."

Adam nodded and walked out of the kitchen, leaving Clare alone with her thoughts. She was annoyed with herself. All she could think of now was Jake. She didn't want to be thinking about him and certainly wasn't thinking of him in a romantic way; he was practically her brother now and he blatantly held important information from him. If she found out about it before he did, she would have told him right away. But Jake did the complete opposite. Clare hated to leave things unresolved but Jake wasn't giving her a choice. She hated to be thinking about him especially since she had other things to be thinking about, and look forward to.

Clare couldn't think of another way to get her mind off of this other than talking to Alli and having her rant about what was going on in her mind. So she sat in bed and called her, waiting for Alli to answer.

"Hi Clare," Alli answered cheerfully.

Clare listened as loud music played in the background. "Hey Alli…where are you?"

"Oh, I'm going on a trip with Dave and he's blasting the music, turn it down," Alli whispered the last part. "We're gonna be gone for a few days. Did you need anything?"

"Well I was thinking you could force me to stop thinking about something but I guess you're busy?"

Alli laughed sheepishly. "Yeah, I kinda am. But what are you thinking about so much? Wait, it's about your mom and Jake's dad isn't it?"

"Yeah actually, wait—how did you know about that?" Clare shot up in her bed. She couldn't remember telling Alli anything between finding out and now, nor had she even talked to Alli between then and now.

"Oh my battery's dying! I'll call you later okay Clare-bear? Okay, bye!" Alli hung up quickly and left Clare confused. Clare tossed her phone aside and laid down in her bed.

The only way Alli could know about her mom was from one other person; Jake. But Clare didn't even know that Alli and Jake were talking. And Clare was sure that Dave wouldn't really like the fact that Alli and Jake were talking, let alone friends. Alli also seemed to be quickly dismissing her; the last few phone calls have been short and Alli seemed to be making excuses.

Now _that_ was something to get her mind off of Jake and what he did. Clare now started to wonder what was going on with Alli.

* * *

><p>"Clare, there's some guy asking for you at the front."<p>

"Who?"

"I don't know, but he's cute."

"Tell him I'm busy, I'll be out in a bit."

"He says he's been waiting for thirty now."

"He can wait. Does he have black hair, probably wearing something pertaining to Dead Hand?"

"Uh…I think."

"Then go back and tell him that we don't have to leave until 3. It's barely 2. He can wait. Or just tell him to come here so he won't bother you anymore."

"Trust me, he is _not_ a bother."

"_Tori_."

"Fine," Tori, an intern of the newspaper, grumbled and left. Clare spun around in her swivel chair and continued to type away. A few minutes later, she heard laughing and giggling heading towards her. She turned around in her chair again and saw Eli coming her direction, Tori right behind him.

"Thanks for showing me the way," Eli said to the giggling Tori. "Sorry I kept annoying you."

"Trust me, you were not annoying me," the intern said. "I'll see you around."

Eli nodded and Tori walked away, lingering her eyes on him. Clare's face was slightly red, she could feel, and Eli walked up to her and leaned against the table.

"I told you that we're leaving at 3. What are you doing here?"

"I got bored and I'm too excited to sit down so," Eli started looking at the papers attached to the wall of Clare's cubicle. "I decided to come by early. Come on, get out of work early, let's go eat or something."

"I already ate," Clare replied, going back to work. "And I have to finish this before we go and—"

Clare paused abruptly when she felt Eli's hands on her shoulders from behind. His hands began kneading her shoulders and her eyes rolled back slightly. His warm breath approached her ear and she tensed up, making Eli dig his hands into her shoulders more.

"Come on," he said in a whisper. "Get off work early, we'll eat on the way. You know you want to."

"I do but—"

"Then just save your work and say you need to beat traffic on the way," Eli said, his hands never stopping. "I have everything in the car, even extra clothes for you to change in since I know you wouldn't want to wear these to the concert."

Clare wiggled out of Eli's grip and spun around in her seat and annoyed, asked, "What's wrong with these clothes?"

Eli's hands transferred onto the arm rests of Clare's seat, trapping her where she was and placing his face directly in front of hers. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong with them."

Clare gulped at the close proximity. She looked down at her lap and played with her fingers. "I…I can't leave this early. Can you wait thirty minutes?"

Eli sighed in defeat. "Fine," he leaned back up and released his hands from the chair. "I'll go find that curly haired girl and see what I can do while I wait." He turned to leave and Clare pictured Tori practically throwing herself at Eli. The visual made her want to vomit so grudgingly, she saved her file and turned off her computer. Grabbing her purse hastily, she called after him.

"Eli, wait!" she said, gathering her things back into her bag. She made a quick exit out of her cubicle and collided into someone. "Oh sorry I—"

Her eyes saw a smirking, dark haired guy and she rolled her eyes at Eli's amused face. "Wipe that stupid grin off your face," she said.

"Off," Eli replied, figuratively wiping it off his face. He held out his hand to her and bowed slightly. "Shall we?"

Hiding the blush off her face and looking away, Clare took his hand.

* * *

><p>"I still can't believe that this is what you would pick out for me."<p>

"Hey, you could've worn that other dress I picked."

"That one's for the wedding, you know? The one I hung up on the door of my closet, it had a sticky note on it that said 'For Wedding'."

"It was nice so I got it too."

"And you also decided to get the black dress I bought two years ago. I can barely breathe."

"Yeah, neither can I."

"Can you control your pervy thoughts?"

"Nope."

After leaving the newspaper, Eli and Clare started on their journey to Ottawa. It would take several hours but Clare was sure that leaving by 3 would get them there on time. But they did eat on the way, and Eli had to make several stops for some reason, so it took them a little bit longer than planned. They did make it before the opening act started but Clare saw that it wouldn't be that long until the opening act began.

"Okay, I have to figure out a way to actually breathe in this dress. I'm going to the bathroom," Clare announced.

Eli put his hands in his pockets. "What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know, can you get me a water?" Clare asked.

"Oh, so I'm the chauffer and the butler?"

Clare narrowed her eyes. "You're on a thin line tonight, Goldsworthy."

"Better than nothing," Eli shrugged and smirked. "Go, I'll be at the bar with your water when you get back."

Clare left for the bathroom and was relieved to find it unoccupied. She put her purse down on the counter and looked at herself in the mirror. Eli had picked out two extra outfits for her. One was the blue dress she was planning on wearing to the wedding along with the white heels for that dress. The second was something definitely further into her closet; a long sleeve black dress that now came up to just above her knee. Thankfully, Eli also got one of her red blazers that went with the dress. She wore the outfit with the flats she was wearing for work but she still didn't feel very comfortable. The dress was tight around her chest, her stomach, her thighs, and she certainly didn't feel like herself.

But then again, she was in a dark, club-like venue going to watch a rock band that she wouldn't normally pick to see. So Clare sighed at her vision in the mirror and brought out her little makeup pouch. She darkened her eyes a bit and fluffed up her hair before exiting the bathroom.

Clare walked back to the spot she left Eli at, hoping he'd gotten the water she'd asked for. But as she walked, her gaze found Eli, still at the same spot, but with a girl standing in front of him a little too close for Clare's liking and the girl's hand was on his shoulder, her head slightly turned back smiling. Clare looked at Eli, who looked slightly uncomfortable but not pushing away the attractive girl. After a second, he seemed to be welcoming it as he himself smiled. The girl's hand traveled to his collarbone, then his neck, and Clare saw her step closer to him.

The music of the opening act around them was deafening and it seemed that the bass was just pounding in Clare's ears but she couldn't focus on that. She was feeling rage in her stomach and a pang in her heart as she watched Eli welcome this girl flirting with him. _She_ brought _him_ here. Clare didn't have to do that. She was hoping that this could be the time she could actually use that perfect opportunity to tell him what she had been wanting to but there he was, just mercilessly flirting with the girl.

The girl stepped closer to Eli, hand now on his chest, and that was it. Clare just stormed their direction, hitting her shoulder on several people on the way, and when she got to Eli, she grabbed his arm and turned him to her.

"Hey—"

Clare smashed her lips to Eli's, aggressively but also softly, and held the sides of his face with both hands to kiss him earnestly. She felt Eli smile against her lips and kiss her back as aggressively. Clare felt herself being turned and her back pressing against the bar. She opened her left eye slightly to see if the girl left. She did and Clare smirked to herself and continued to kiss Eli.

But the moment ended too quickly as Eli pulled away slowly from Clare's lips but still kept his arms around her. He smirked at her and Clare blushed, her head turning down. She felt Eli tilt her head up and press a kiss to her forehead. "Come on," he said, grabbing her hand. "We don't wanna miss the beginning."

Clare followed Eli through the crowd and they stopped in the middle of the mass of people. Eli went to stand behind Clare, his hands on her waist, and she turned her head around to look at him in the eyes. He looked back down at her and asked, "What?"

Clare raised a brow. "No sarcastic comments about what I just did?"

"No, of course not," he shook his head. "I was kind of wishing you'd save me, I just didn't know you'd save me like that." Eli smirked at her and leaned down to her ear.

"I hope that kiss meant something," his hot breath fanned in her ear, making her shiver, just like earlier when they were in Clare's cubicle. "Because it certainly did for me."

Clare bit her lip. "Do you need some more reassurance?"

"Don't mind if I do," Eli said before leaning back down to kiss her softly. It was a simple lips on lips kiss but the way Eli held Clare's body and how Clare's hand cradled Eli's head, it was definitely more.

_Finally_, Clare thought in her mind. _Now this is a perfect moment._

* * *

><p>"I can't believe I got to meet them, and we got their signatures on all of Adam's stuff, AND they signed my pass and my phone. One of them shook my hand. I'm never washing my hands ever again. I wish Adam came with us, he would've passed out by now. I think he'll like that we got a video of them signing all the stuff. He's going to flip. Oh and did you get enough info for your review? If you need to relive anything, just ask. I'll never forget the concert. I wish they'd come out with a reunion tour dvd, but since this is like, their third reunion tour, I doubt they will…"<p>

Clare mindlessly listened to Eli ranting about Dead Hand and the show but all Clare could really think of was how Eli held her the entire time, told her the names of the songs they performed, sing to her his favorite parts of the songs, and again, how Eli held her the entire time and never let go.

Clare was about to doze off to the pleasant thoughts when she heard Eli curse under his breath. "What's going on—"

Suddenly, the car was jerking forward and backward until it stopped on the side of the road. Eli tried turning the ignition on multiple times but it didn't turn on again.

"Is it the engine? Is it—"

Eli cut Clare off. "It's the gas. We ran out of gas."

"We…we ran out of…" Clare stuttered on her words and turned angry. "We ran out of gas? Did you not see that the needle was that close to empty and you didn't think of getting to a rest stop before the needle actually got to empty? We JUST passed one!"

"Sorry, okay? I thought we had more miles to go but I guess—"

"NOT!" Clare angrily got out of the car. "It's past midnight and we still have several hours before we get back to Toronto and I have to get to the wedding! Now I won't even get there in time because we're stranded here because YOU just had to wait until the last second to get gas!"

"Don't yell at me," Eli said calmly. "It's an honest mistake."

"Oh yeah, don't yell when we're stranded barely halfway between Toronto and Ottawa with no gas, barely any direction, and…oh, look at that, no service. Great Eli, just great. I'll just sit here and not be mad."

"Hey, remember those three hours where you were in my arms the entire time? How about we go back to that?"

Clare scoffed. "You know what? If we were miraculously in Toronto by morning, sure let's go back to that. Until then…" She climbed into the backseat of the car and laid down, putting her blazer around her shoulders. "I'm going to sleep. There's no sense in staying awake when we're stranded anyways."

"Clare, I'm sorry, I thought that—"

"Just go to sleep, Eli. I'm exhausted. We can walk to the nearest rest stop tomorrow but right now, I'd rather just sleep."

"Clare—"

"Eli. There's no sense in saying anything. Let's just…let's just sleep."

"I just don't want you to go to sleep angry at me."

Clare opened her eyes to see Eli's head turned back from the front seat. She sighed deeply and said, "I know you didn't intentionally leave us stranded with no gas so I'm not angry. But we are stranded and I need to be home in…6 hours to make it in time for the wedding. That won't happen anymore so, whatever. I'm just going to sleep."

"Fine," Eli replied sadly. "But can I ask one more thing?"

"What?" Clare closed her eyes and moved to lay more comfortably, although that was not an easy task in the small backseat.

"Tonight, did we…are we…" Eli couldn't get his words out correctly. "Are we…together? You never said it officially."

"Neither did you," Clare retorted. But she smiled anyways. "I don't just spend three hours in the arms of a guy while listening to a band that _he_ loves and having him tell me everything he knows about them…and enjoy every second of it."

"Okay," Eli finally said. "Okay."

"Okay. Now go to sleep. We have nothing else to do anyways."

As Clare started to doze off, she felt something hitting her legs. She could barely hold her eyes but definitely knew that it was Eli putting some kind of jacket over her exposed legs.

"Thank you," she whispered tiredly.

"You're welcome," he replied just as softly.


	14. Chapter 14

**Happy New Year everyone!**

**I am so sorry for the really long delay…and I don't know if you're going to hate me or continue to like me after this chapter, but it had to be done. And finally, we hear more about Alli…and someone else. ;) I might be ending this story in a few chapters, I think if I make it a long story, it's going to get really boring. It's probably boring now…but that's why I ended this the way I did, to keep the suspense up.**

**And I'm sorry this is an extremely short chapter. Lots of apologies from me.**

**For occasional sneak peeks, follow me on Tumblr (kristine-marie) or Twitter (hereinyourarms_).**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**

**A few days later...**

* * *

><p>After Clare and Eli were saved by some sketchy looking but trustworthy truck drivers that night of being stranded on the side of the road, Clare spent time away from Eli. It was definitely not by choice, it was because of school and work. Also, Clare would spend any of her spare time doing all of Adam's wishes after she "stood him up" at Manny and Jay's wedding.<p>

"I was the loner at the wedding! Thank god for the food or else I'd actually be mad at you. But you can make it up to me by cooking and cleaning for me for a week," Adam propositioned. Clare felt bad for leaving Adam in the cold, although it wasn't her fault, so she agreed to it anyways.

So when Clare was home, in the short time that she was, Eli was out for his classes or he was working or he was working on something which was signaled by the sign he tapes on his bedroom door saying "Working on something." Their paths simply hadn't crossed and Clare was getting restless.

When Eli had asked if they were together, Clare felt like she answered him at the time but after spending many nights analyzing her answer, she thought that maybe she has been unclear, that Eli mistook it and thought that they weren't together and that's why Eli could be avoiding her, not just not being at the same place at the same time. She really wanted to talk to someone about her boy troubles but she has already called Alli a few times and did not receive an answer.

"So are you ready to accompany me in watching a few movies tonight? It's the last night of our deal so I thought I'd go easy on you and pick something we both would enjoy." Adam plopped down on the couch beside Clare, who was doing an article for the paper, and he had a collection of snacks and drinks in his hand. Clare sympathetically smiled at him.

"I don't know if I'm in the mood," Clare said.

"Since when do people turn down movies and free food?" Adam asked perplexed. "What's up? This isn't Eli related is it?"

Clare eyed him curiously. "What makes you say that?"

Adam slyly smiled. "Because Eli had the same look this morning and he may have told me that he missed you."

"But I'm here..." Clare said awkwardly.

"Yet you don't see each other. He wants to see you, he says he misses you. He told me all about your concert trip and I have to be honest, I didn't pay attention to him at first because he gave me all of the stuff first but after he explained it to me the second time, I came to one conclusion."

Clare waited for Adam to continue. "And?" she urged.

"That he's never been that comfortable talking to me about a girl he liked...ever."

This made Clare blush like a little girl. There she was thinking that Eli was avoiding her but all this time, he was missing her as much as she was missing him. But of course, she was implying all of this. Maybe Adam had misread Eli as well.

"I could tell that he had a thing for you even before he and Imogen broke up. It was just a matter of time before you two got together."

"We're not together," Clare was quick to say but then she realized…maybe they were. "I mean, I don't know if it's official. We didn't really talk about it, we were just so caught up in the fact that the car wasn't starting and we were stranded. I barely even remember what I told him, word for word. I was exhausted. I know I told him that I don't do that type of things with guys I don't like but…I don't know."

"Well I'll tell you one thing. If you decide to make it officially official, Eli definitely will not deny you, that is a guarantee. Just go wait in his room one night so you guys can talk, get things out in the open, okay? Because no offence, I'm getting really tired of having to hear this back and forth between you two."

"Fine," Clare rolled her eyes. "Thanks for listening. Who knew you'd be better at giving me advice than my own female best friend."

"Speaking of which," Adam said. "Where has Alli been? I haven't seen her here for a while plus I saw Dave yesterday and—"

"Wait," Clare held up her hand and adjusted her body on the couch to face Adam directly. "You saw Dave yesterday? But…she told me days ago that she was on a trip with Dave."

"Dave's been here," Adam replied awkwardly. "I've seen him at least 5 times in the last two weeks so he couldn't have been gone."

"So where has Alli been?" Clare fathomed, looking away. "I can't believe she would lie to me. She wouldn't lie to me unless she had something to hide. Did Dave say anything about Alli?"

"He said she was with her family," Adam answered. "Guess Dave doesn't know either…"

"I can't believe this," Clare put a hand to her head. "The last time she disappeared was…" Clare stopped herself before she continued but Adam had already caught her quick stop.

"When?" he asked.

"When we were in high school, I—" Clare took a deep breath and closed her eyes, remembering the beginnings of her troubles. "She went to some casting call thing for models hours away from home, without me I might add, and she got it. That's why she's a model today."

"Without you? Oh yeah, you said you wanted to model right? Was it because of Alli that you didn't become one?"

"No, not because of Alli. But because she finally got her big break, I tried really hard to be skinnier and, well, you already know what happened."

"Okay, don't get offended or anything but why did you want to be a model? You could've done so many other things and you choose this kind of superficial job?"

Clare rested her head against the back of the couch. "Honestly now, I don't even know. I guess it was because where I went to high school, it became a big thing. My boyfriend started posing in local ads, Alli got a modeling job, I guess I was just jealous. But I starved myself to do it and that I'm not proud of."

"But you have your book," Adam reminded her. "It's become inspirational to a lot of people. When it came out, it became Eli's favorite book in high school. I know he told you about being bipolar and when your book came out, he finally cracked down and told himself he'd take his medication and work on himself. Ever since then, it's been pretty smooth sailing…except for when he was with Imogen. Toxic, that girl is."

"What if he's not really ready to be in another relationship right after his ex cheated on him?"

"If he's not ready, then he'll tell you. I think he's ready but if he's not, then you guys work that out on your own."

Clare pursed her lips to the side, questioning herself. "I guess I'll go wait for him to get home then."

Adam nodded and went to put a DVD into the player. "We'll watch a movie while you wait," he said, going back to sit next to Clare. "By the way, where has Jake been?"

"Didn't he leave a note about him staying with his dad?" Clare replied mindlessly.

"I thought your mom and his dad were together, so wouldn't that mean that Jake would be spending time with your parents? That doesn't sound like fun," Adam said, pressing a button on the remote.

"Yeah, true, but—" Clare's head shot up and she had a thought in her mind that she wished weren't true. The fact that Alli was gone the same time Jake was…Jake missing the first dinner with Clare's mom and Alli's hasty phone call that day…Jake's mood swings toward Clare…Dave being home…Clare didn't want to believe it. No, it couldn't be true.

"You look like an even paler version of that girl in Twilight, what's going on?" Adam asked, nudging Clare with his hand.

"I think I might know where Alli is…and Jake…" Clare said in disbelief.

"Alli _and_ Jake? What do—" Adam stopped mid sentence and Clare knew that Adam had realized what she actually meant. "_Oh._"

"Yeah," Clare replied almost angrily. "Oh."

* * *

><p>"<em>She fell asleep waiting for you."<em>

"_Waiting for me?"_

"_Yeah, because you guys haven't crossed paths in days."_

"_Yeah, I've been busy…"_

"_Obviously. Are you going to wake her up or are you gonna leave me here to be stuck under her head. She kinda just used me as a pillow out of nowhere."_

Clare heard a long pause as she pretended to be asleep. _"Um…I'll talk to her in the morning. I…I'd feel bad if I woke her up this late."_

Clare had to force herself not to scowl as she "slept", even though she woke up when the front door had opened.

"_Are you sure?"_

"_Yeah man, I'll talk to her eventually."_

"_Can you at least help me put her in her bed?"_

"_Uh, sorry Adam, I'm really exhausted. I was gonna go straight to bed."_

"_What's wrong with you? Now you won't even help your girlfriend get to her—"_

"_She's not my girlfriend."_

Clare's heart dropped. Eli's tone practically cut through her. She wanted to get up and say something but she had no energy, and truthfully, she wasn't in the mood to talk to Eli anymore and he certainly didn't want to talk to her.

"_What's that supposed to—"_

"_Adam, I'm exhausted. Morning, okay?"_

"_Fine…"_

After Clare heard a door closing, she felt herself being lifted up into someone's arms. "Hey, you're lighter than I thought," she heard Adam say. She was placed in the comfort of her bed and her covers being pulled over her. "I don't know what his problem is," Adam was saying as if he knew Clare was awake but she knew she was doing a good job pretending. "But if he all of a sudden changed his mind, I'll personally kick his ass for you."

Once Clare heard her bedroom door close, she slowly opened her eyes. She sat up in bed and pulled the covers up to her neck. Maybe she imagined Eli's harsh tone, it was just her worrying imagination working against her. But Adam's slight anger couldn't be part of her imagination, he was right there tucking her in.

She couldn't sleep, she was too upset thinking that she may have lost her chance…again. But then she remembered the one reason dating Eli could be a recipe for disaster. Being roommates. Having to see each other constantly. Clare completely forgot that once she and Eli started dating, the awkwardness of having their rooms next to each other would be through the rough of their apartment.

And they'd have to cross paths eventually and Clare would have to pretend she heard nothing tonight. She didn't want to do that. She didn't want to accidentally hear something Eli was saying about her to Adam. And Adam! How could she do this to Adam? Putting him between Eli and her and they weren't even dating! If she and Eli fought, he'd have to witness the fighting because his room is just across the hall.

Clare's mind raced with all of the terrible things that could arise from dating her roommate. Now that she was so close to actually dating one, the bad things seemed even worse and more possible. Maybe it was the feelings she had for Eli that masked all of the things that could go wrong but they couldn't be denied anymore. Would she be selfish to put everyone in the apartment in a tough position because of a relationship?

Clare didn't know what to do anymore after hearing Eli's tone change towards her. And on top of that, her best friend is possibly cheating on her boyfriend on Clare's childhood friend _and_ roommate. Maybe choosing to move into the apartment wasn't a good idea afterall.


	15. Chapter 15

**So I'm extremely sorry that this took forever. My excuse is senior year but guess what? I'm done with senior year! Yay! Classes are over and I'm graduating June 11****th****. :) But that means that I'm gonna start updating my stories again and this one is top priority. Hopefully it won't take five months to update again. I'm sure you guys have probably forgotten what happened so refresh and go back a few chapters and read them over.**

**Thanks for reading (and being patient) and please review!**

**P.S. All the Twitter stuff I said in previous chapters so longer exists, I did delete that Twitter. But I do have my Tumblr still (which I seem to change the name of very often). Follow me at returntomemysunandstars(.)tumblr(.)com**

* * *

><p>When morning came, Clare surely did not want to get out of bed. But in order to avoid Eli, which he seemed to be doing, or at least that's what Clare got from the conversation between Eli and Adam the night before, she had to get ready early and leave the apartment before Eli got up. So she showered, dressed, and ate breakfast and was already out of the apartment by 7 o'clock.<p>

She had no direction of where to go, she just started walking. She decided to stop by her favorite coffee place and maybe sit there for a while, before she had to go to class. She hadn't been there in a while, probably not even since moving into the apartment.

Once she ordered her favorite coffee, she sat down at a window seat and pulled out her book from her bag. Clare savored the peace and quiet of the morning. It wasn't until around 8 o'clock that the actual coffee house rush began so for that small amount of time, it was her, her book, and her coffee, all enjoying not having to think about anything. All Clare wanted to do was be immersed in the life of Marlowe on his journey to the heart of darkness.

"Good morning."

Clare marked her place in her thin book and peered over her shoulder to see Wesley smiling nervously. Clare found herself much happier than she's been the past few days, happy to see someone else's genuine smiling face and also happy to see her.

"Hi Wesley," Clare said with a smile, not even having to fake it. "Take a seat."

"What brings you here so early?" he asked as he sat on the stool beside Clare. "I've been coming here a lot lately, I don't usually see you."

"I just started coming back here, today actually," Clare answered. "I just needed to get out of my apartment for a while, thought I'd read before I had to get to class."

"I understand, this is a great place to read," Wesley replied. "I would ask you if you wanted to talk about what's bothering you but obviously you're here not to talk about it so…I guess I'll see you at work?"

"No, Wesley, stay and talk for a while," Clare was surprised at how she pleaded with Wesley. She yearned for social interaction outside of the people who resided in her apartment, although the only one she was really talking to right now was Adam. The other two seemed completely distant after once being completely in her face.

"Okay," Wesley said slowly. "What about?"

"I don't know," Clare shrugged. "Anything. Read or watch anything good lately?"

"Your articles," Wesley answered and Clare noticed Wesley's face turn red instantly. "I mean, well, they're always really good and I always read them. I especially liked your review of the Dead Hand reunion show. I'm not into that kind of music but you kind of made me want to listen to that one song you talked about. Paisley Jacket? Weird name for a song but you said it was 'The spotlight of the successful career of a band who started off in a garage' so if you said that the song is good then it has to be."

"You're right, I did say that," Clare said shocked. "You know my article word for word?"

"It…it was a good article," Wesley replied shyly. "But I did find one mistake."

"No you didn't," Clare suddenly became extremely defensive. She hated to be told she was wrong and certainly hated being called out on a writing error.

"You wrote there, t-h-e-r-e instead of their, t-h-e-i-r, about the band," Wesley told her. "I cringed…sorry."

"I'm cringing right now," Clare scrounged up her face. When other people make that mistake she wants to strangle them. But she made the same mistake in her article and now she kind of wanted to strangle herself. "I can't believe I did that."

"Maybe you were distracted?" Wesley shrugged. "We all make mistakes when there are distractions. Good or bad."

"Yeah," Clare nodded, remembering when she wrote the Dead Hand article. Her mind was on Eli the entire time, reminiscing about their hand holding the entire show. Although she proof read her article, she must've continued to be distracted by Eli during the editing process. "I just don't know if the distraction's good or bad," she said honestly, Eli's face still in her head. "But right now, I'm leaning towards bad…"

"If your distraction only caused you to make one little mistake then I'd hardly call it a bad distraction…"

"It's way more than just a homonym mistake," Clare sighed. "Way more than that. Maybe it's best to just…cut out that distraction from my life."

Wesley gave no answer other than an unsure shrug. "Even though some distractions _may _be bad doesn't mean that they don't end up being the right kind of distraction. I've had the same distraction in the office for a while now…" Wesley stopped speaking abruptly and then said, "Nevermind, forget I said that."

Clare eyed his curiously and dropped the subject like Wesley said. "O-kay," she replied slowly as she noticed Wesley's red cheeks get even redder. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Wesley replied hesitantly.

"You remember when you came to that party at my new apartment?" Clare asked and Wesley nodded. "Well, I kind of started…getting involved with one of my roommates."

"Oh," Wesley deadpans. "That doesn't sound like a good idea."

Clare slumps her shoulders and sighs. "That's what I thought at first and then all of a sudden I really like him and I was being optimistic and thinking that maybe it could work but now obviously it can't. Thanks for your opinion Wes."

Clare said goodbye to Wesley and headed on her way to class, thinking about where she could move to. She obviously couldn't stay in the apartment now that she had gotten involved with, and dumped by even though they weren't officially dating apparently, by Eli. Living under the same roof as the man who was completely sending her mixed signals was not something she wanted to do. And to add to the Eli problem, she didn't want to see the face of the guy who was "the other man" between her best friend and her boyfriend. She had no proof but the signs were all there and Alli is definitely cheating on Dave and Jake seems like that guy.

Clare hardly focused in class. And that was just adding to the list of why she shouldn't be living in that apartment. Too many distractions.

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><p>Clare opened the apartment door while she looked through real estate ads, trying to find a cheap apartment close to her college and work so she could move immediately. As she put her keys in the usual container near the door, she heard some movement coming from one of the bedrooms. Clare put down her ads and slowly approached Jake and Adam's room, knowing full well that neither of them would be there, and what she found in the room was horrifying.<p>

Bruce held a magazine, or the remains of a terribly torn up magazine, in his teeth and was surrounded with tons of broken, damaged, ripped, torn, and messed up belonging of both Adam and Jake. It seemed that Bruce had no mercy on anything in the room, it was all fair game and clearly, Bruce won.

"OH MY GOD!" Clare shrieked all too loudly. She ran to Bruce and took the magazine from his teeth and saw that it was one of Adam's prized comic books. Defeated and deflated, Clare deeply sighed and knelt down in front of Bruce who now had his sights on licking her face.

"This isn't gonna work you menace," Clare grumbled to Adam's dog. "I know it wasn't my stuff that you destroyed but…wait…" Clare ran out of the room and into hers and immediately stumbled over something she knew she didn't leave on the floor.

It seemed that Bruce attacked her room as well but got bored since only a few things were ripped and left on the carpet. Nonetheless, what Bruce got to were her curtains, some clothing items, and several books. Clare had to take deep breaths and grip her wooden dresser to keep herself from exploding.

Before she could go scold Bruce to oblivion there was loud pounding at the front door. She was in no mood to deal with people right now but she still went to the door and opened it hastily. "What?"

"Sorry to bother you, wait, I'm not sorry." The man at the door was middle aged, didn't seem to bathe as often as he needed to, and he definitely had the same attitude as Clare at the moment. "I'm the landlord of this building and we've been hearing complaints all day about a persistent noise coming from this apartment."

_Oh no,_ Clare thought. _Everyone knows about Bruce now and we're not even allowed to have dogs…_

"Clearly you have a dog living with you and it's a clear rule of the building that you can't have dogs, cats, or other of those kinds of house pets in the apartment," the man told her. "I'm guessing you kept it a secret for a while but now that dog has got to go."

"No, please, Bruce is a good dog most of the time, I think he was just getting restless since no one was home and—"

"Well if you kept to the rules and didn't have a dog here then you wouldn't be having this problem. The dog goes."

"Please, Bruce is the only one in this apartment that doesn't drive me crazy, except for today but still, he's—"

The landlord interrupted her rudely and said, "He's not allowed here! And if you're so bent on keeping the dog then go live somewhere else with the damn dog!"

Clare had no idea what came over her but she slapped the landlord in the face, not as hard as she'd hoped but still had a loud cracking sound when her hand came in contact with his face. As soon as she did it her eyes came out of her head and both hands went to cover her mouth. "I am so sorry, I don't know why—"

"Be out of here by morning," the landlord said with a warning tone. "Or else all who live in this apartment are out. Better bring that damn dog with you."

When the landlord left, Clare closed the door and slumped to the floor. Not even a minute later, Bruce walked up to her and licked her face. Having no energy to push the dog away, Clare just allowed him to nuzzle up to her. "Guess we're gonna be roomies," Clare said to Bruce. "At least I don't have to make up some awkward excuse to move out, I can just blame it all on you."

Bruce barked, causing Clare to glare at him. "Yeah, let everyone hear you and make things worse. Come on, let's go clean up your mess and pack up my stuff. It's going to be a long night."

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><p>By the time the front door opened again that night it was midnight and Clare was still organizing her things as she packed them up. She had her clothes all put into boxes and was onto putting everything else into the right boxes. Clare had already texted Adam about the situation but left out that she was kicked out of the building. Adam was extremely upset about his comics already and Clare assured him that she'd clean up the mess Bruce made but she didn't want to make things worse tonight.<p>

Clare managed to tape up another box when she heard her door opening.

"Uh…what's going on here?"

Clare didn't even have to look to know that it was Eli. "So now you talk to me?" she asked him.

"Well yeah since it looks like you're…moving out…what are you doing?"

"You kind of answered that already. I'm moving out. Probably better that I do, I've made things worse for you apparently, since you can't even talk to me anymore, and I think I managed to hook up Jake with Alli, who I thought had a serious boyfriend." Clare was rambling and rambling and didn't realize what she said until she said it. "I mean…"

But what Eli replied to her was even more shocking. "You know too?"


	16. Chapter 16

**I graduated high school! Woohoo! And I got the inspiration for this chapter from a New Girl episode and although the episode didn't turn out this way, the setting of it was from one of the episodes.**

**Sorry it's short, I wanted to keep the chapter to this one particular part.**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**

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><p>"What do you mean? I know too? Do you know?"<p>

Clare put down the brush she was holding and stared at Eli intently. "You know?" she asked him again. "How could you not tell me?"

"I…" Eli began, troubled. "I…Jake, he begged me not to say anything and I didn't want to hurt—"

"Oh, you didn't want to hurt your best friend, is that it?" Clare said angrily. She picked up the brush and clumsily threw it in Eli's direction, missing terribly and hitting the door behind him. "So all this time Jake's been rude to me, Alli's been avoiding me, all because it's actually true? Alli cheating on Dave? I can't _believe_ this!" Clare picked up another item and threw it, successfully hitting Eli this time, but since it was a small stuffed animal she threw, it didn't make that big of an impact.

"And you!" Clare stopped her throwing and pointed at a scared looking Eli. "How could you keep this from me! And Dave…oh god, I have to tell Dave. He has the right to know!"

"Whoa, whoa, wait a second," Eli ran up to Clare and put his hands on her arms, which she immediately shrugged away.

"Don't touch me," she warned him. Clare stormed out of the room, passed by a barking Bruce, and out of the apartment with Eli calling after her.

"Clare, wait, it's late, come on, let me at least explain to you—"

Clare punched the elevator button and turned to Eli and said, "There's nothing to explain! You kept this huge secret about my best friend, about her cheating on her boyfriend, and you of all people should know how terrible it is to be cheated on! I don't care that it's Alli that I'm ratting out but she should know too how hurtful it is to cheat on someone so excuse me, I'm going to go to my friend Dave's place and tell him the truth!"

She stepped into the elevator once it opened and started pressing the close button as soon as possible but of course, Eli managed to get through the doors before it closed.

"At least let me explain, in this two minute elevator ride, why I didn't tell you," Eli pleaded.

Clare crossed her arms over her chest and looked up to the ceiling. "You avoided me too, you just stopped talking to me, you gave me the cold shoulder, all for what? To protect Jake? I thought we—" She paused and pressed her lips together. "Nevermind. I was just stupid to think it."

"You weren't, you're not," Eli said. "Clare, I—"

The elevator started to shake around them, the lights began to flicker, and the floor number no longer looked like an actual number. Clare found herself clutching to Eli's arm as he moved to stand in front of her, his arms coming behind him to shield Clare's sides. The shaking stopped after 20 terrifying seconds and the lights were out completely. There was no shed of light in the elevator, making Clare's heart race.

"Oh my god, we're stuck," she said in a shaking voice. "Hey, what are you doing?"

Clare clumsily felt around in front of her when Eli moved away, only to see Eli's face suddenly illuminated by his cell phone. She grabbed onto his forearm and sighed in relief. "Don't do that!" she slapped his arm, causing him to gasp.

"Hey, if it wasn't for me, we'd be stuck in the dark rather than just stuck!" Eli said to her.

"I have my phone too," Clare narrowed her eyes at him but when she felt in her pocket, she found absolutely nothing. "Nevermind, I don't have it."

"Ha," he replied proudly.

"You know, if you really want to make up for all of this, you should get us out of here," Clare told him annoyed. She sat down on the floor, bringing her knees up to her chest.

"I wish I could but I don't think I should press anything or do anything that could maybe bring this elevator down," Eli said cautiously. Clare felt him sit beside her and his cell phone now was being held between their heads.

"This would happen," Clare mumbled. "Of course, when I try to make an escape, this would happen."

"Maybe this was a sign that you shouldn't have tried to run away from me," Eli replied.

Clare rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm _sure_ that's it. Why don't you try calling Adam or something?"

"No signal," Eli said. "See? No bars."

"Great," Clare groaned in reply, banging her head on the elevator wall behind her. "Just great."

"Hey, stop doing that to your head," Eli brought his hand to the back of Clare's head. "I don't think I want to be alone in here when you're passed out."

Clare froze when she felt Eli's fingers in her hair. She turned her head to him and felt how he softly dragged his hand down from her head, to her neck. His touch was still electrifying and she felt her skin get warm under his hand, but then she remembered her anger and she scooted away.

"Clare, don't be like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you don't like me at all."

Clare crossed her arms again and stared into the opposite, but dark, direction. She gulped a bit before replying and croaked her reply. "I don't."

There was a silence between them for at least a minute. Clare had no idea what Eli's reaction was and she mentally slapped herself for wanting to know. Had she hurt him when she spitefully replied? Or was it just because he couldn't think of something witty to reply with?

"I didn't want to hurt you," Eli finally said.

"You kept this huge secret from me," Clare replied. "Of course I was hurt."

"No, I couldn't tell you because I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't know how to tell you about the situation without hurting you or making you sad or pissing you off. I didn't want to be the one to hurt you since I wasn't actually part of it but when I caught Jake in a lie and he finally told me, he said he'd tell you and every day, I begged him to finally tell you. I had no idea how to talk to you because I didn't know if you knew yet and I had to tiptoe around you. I'm so sorry that I made you feel like I was avoiding you, I just…I knew if I even spent five minutes with you alone I'd want to say something and it wasn't my place. But I know now that I should've told you because you're right, I know how it feels to be cheated on and allowing someone else to feel that way, even if he doesn't know yet, and I feel awful about it."

Eli's phone wasn't on anymore so Clare awkwardly sat by herself, listening to what Eli had to say. He made his point, and he made it well. And she could understand his side. Not knowing what to say, what to do, not wanting to make things worse, it made a lot of sense to her. But she still felt hurt and angry.

"So last night when you told Adam that I wasn't your girlfriend…" Clare said slowly. "You said it so bitterly, like you were angry at me, I thought that—"

Eli somehow found Clare in the dark and successfully took her hand in his. "I was angry at myself Clare. I've been walking around here hating myself for what I was doing. I thought that I didn't deserve to call you as my girlfriend and I wasn't sure if we really were…together. We didn't really say anything official."

"We're not in high school Eli, did we really have to do the whole 'Will you go out with me?' thing?"

"Would've been better than not knowing."

_True._ Clare moved her fingers in between Eli's to hold it more comfortably. "So what does this mean?" Eli asked. "Are we—"

Clare scoffed and took her hand from Eli's. "Did you really think that this would resolve anything?"

"Why not? I told you why I kept Jake's secret and you seem to understand, I told you why I was avoiding you and it was because to protect you, so what's the problem now?"

Clare stood up and started banging on the elevator door. "HELP! LET US OUT! HELP!"

"Clare! Someone had to have noticed by now, calm down!"

Clare continued to bang on the door loudly until the elevator started to shake again. It shook back and forth, causing Clare to end up against Eli, but when it stopped shaking, it seemed to have not moved up or down. Clare was breathing deeply, scared and terrified, and when she finally realized what position she was in, in Eli's arms with her back against him, she managed to calm herself down.

"You know, you almost just killed us," Eli joked.

Clare laughed but tried to push away from him, only to be turned around so she faced Eli. "I can't see you right now but I know you have that stupid smirk on your face," Clare said.

"You love it and you know it," Eli replied and Clare could just feel Eli getting more smug by the second. His arms were wrapped around her as he leaned against the wall and Clare knew that this position was way more intimate than the kind you were in with your friends.

_So we're not friends, we're not together, we're in between but…what is still holding me back?_

"What are you thinking of right now?" Eli whispered softly. Clare felt his hand pushing her hair out of her face and behind her ear and she allowed herself to close her eyes.

"You and me," she admitted as Eli pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I don't know if I can let myself do this…I mean, you kept something from me—"

"To protect you," Eli reminded her again. "But I promise, I won't keep anything from you ever again. I won't."

Clare gulped, remembering that Eli had no idea about her past and what inspired her book. She suddenly thought that he would look at her differently but they were agreeing now that there would be no secrets so she prepared to tell him.

"Eli—"

She was cut off with a kiss, a soft yet firm one that made Clare forget what she wanted to stay. Eli held the sides of her head as he pressed his lips against hers, patiently coaxing her into following his slow lead. Once Clare wrapped her arms around his neck, Eli moved his own arms around her waist and kissed her deeper.

"Eli," she said against his lips but he was unrelenting and kept kissing her. "I…still…need…to…tell…you…something."

"Fine," Eli breathed and moved his lips to her chin and down Clare's neck, stopping at the perfect spot to make Clare weak in the knees.

A soft sigh left her lips and she felt Eli's smirk against her neck. "I can't focus if you…keep doing that…oh…nevermind." She pulled Eli's head up to kiss him again, this time with her taking the lead, and she kissed him with force she had no idea she possessed. Eli managed to switch their positions and Clare's back was now against the elevator wall but it was Clare who controlled their kiss.

Clare's hand started travelling underneath Eli's shirt, feeling his skin on fire, on his back, on his shoulders, across his chest, her hands wandered quickly and aimlessly and over and over, making Eli pant against her lips.

Just when Eli hesitantly placed his hand underneath Clare's shirt on her lower back, the lights turned on in the elevator and suddenly they were moving down again. Clare's chest was heaving up and down and Clare's hand, which was placed over Eli's heart, felt the racing. Their foreheads were pressed together and they locked eyes once Clare looked up. When Eli smiled, Clare's cheeks flared up. She could see their compromising position now but she couldn't find the strength or want to pull away.

"So…we just made out like high schoolers so I think we should do this like high schoolers. Clare, will you be my girlfriend?"

The elevator doors opened before Clare could reply. She looked over Eli's shoulder to see Alli and Jake standing together, looking nervous, but then their faces turned to shock.

Eli turned away from Clare with a dropped head and said exasperated, "Why do you two have to ruin _everything?_"


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry! I'm taking forever with these updates and I'm truly sorry! Who's loving Season 12? I am! I hope you are too!**

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUSIKSNOB! Go wish her a happy birthday everyone! (July 24****th****)**

**This chapter goes to show you that resolutions don't come easy and people aren't always as good as you want them to be.**

**Follow me on twitter: hereinyourarms_**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**

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><p>The tension was obvious between the four friends, from inside the elevator to just outside of it. None moved, they continued to stare awkwardly, instead of Clare who did not hide her blatant dislike of the situation. She glared at Alli while Alli had her pleading eyes toward Clare, begging for forgiveness.<p>

Finally, Eli broke the silence by saying, "Are we going to hold up this elevator all night?"

Clare smacked Eli directly in the stomach, making him groan slightly. "What was that for?"

"For distracting me," Clare answered. "You two, get in the elevator."

Alli and Jake stepped inside and Clare pressed their floor number. She wished that the elevator wouldn't break down again because there was no way she could stand complete darkness with the two people that she was angry with the most. But thankfully, after what seemed to be the longest elevator ride ever, the doors opened to their floor and Eli led the way to the apartment.

Once in the apartment Clare pulled Alli away from Jake and into her bedroom, locking the door behind them.

"Are you moving?" Alli asked, noticing the boxes and packing supplies.

"Yes," Clare said flatly. "Now what the hell are you doing?"

Alli put her hands up in defense. "Look I know you're mad but—"

"Of course I'm mad! You're cheating on your boyfriend with…with…"

"What is he, Clare? How are you going to describe Jake?"

Clare couldn't find the right words. "Jake is…not worth losing your long time boyfriend over. Dave still thinks you're together, you've been lying to him about where you are, and I don't know what happened between you two but if he hasn't done anything wrong then why are you cheating on him? And also, why couldn't you tell me so I could talk you out of it!"

Alli sat down on the uncovered mattress while Clare stood a few feet away, arms flying and face turning red at her anger. When Clare finally calmed down she put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "Didn't you think about the consequences?" she asked Alli. "Dave's going to be crushed and you should be glad that the elevator jammed or else I'd probably be at Dave's by now."

"I'll tell him," Alli replied softly. "I will. You're right, this was stupid."

"So why did you do it?" Clare demanded to know.

"Clare, you're supposed to be on my side!"

Clare raised a brow. "When you make a stupid decision and hurt someone you love I'm supposed to be supportive of that? I am on your side which is why I'm here telling you that Dave doesn't deserve this and you really need to think about what you did because it's unacceptable to cheat on someone."

"But Clare!" Alli stood from the bed. "Dave didn't pay attention to me, he's always working and working and furthering his career and I was just there, waiting for him to come home! The party you threw when you first moved here was probably the last time I got to spend more than an awake 5 hours with him consecutively. He'd go to work early, come home late, I'm already asleep and he never made time for me!"

"So instead of talking to him and making it work, you decide to, oh, teach him a lesson about what happens when you're involved in your job?" Clare asked rhetorically. "Just because he's busy working doesn't mean he doesn't care about you and sure as hell doesn't give you the consent to cheat on him."

"Okay Clare, I know I messed up but can you just stop it? You're not involved here! I don't understand why you're getting so upset!" Alli raised her voice and yelled. "I'm the one who should be upset!"

"Why? Because you're having an affair with some guy and then you still have someone waiting for you at home? Oh Alli, you're such the victim and no, I shouldn't be involved at all. I shouldn't tell your boyfriend that you've been cheating on him and I shouldn't tell you that Jake is a player and you threw your perfectly good relationship away on a guy that gets bored fairly easily so I guess," Clare opened the door and pointed out. "We're done here. See you around."

When Alli didn't move at all Clare simply continued to point toward the open hallway. "I'm not kidding, go," Clare said while looking at the floor.

"Why are you so upset?" Alli walked closer to the door and Clare noticed that Alli was close to tears.

"Because in case you didn't remember, I live here because I was cheated on and had nowhere else to go. Dave shouldn't have to feel what I did," Clare replied, an icy expression on her face. "When you're on your way out can you tell Jake to come in here?"

"Clare…" Alli cried but Clare turned her head. "Clare, I forgot, I'm sorry, I—"

Clare kept her gaze away as Alli stepped out of the room. Before leaving, Alli turned back and said, "Umm…I guess once I tell Dave I'll probably move out so if you can handle living with me without hating me, maybe we could look for an apartment."

Clare watched Alli walk down the hallway and she walked back into her bedroom. Taking deep breaths Clare stood against a wall and looked up at the ceiling to cool off because she knew she would be yelling at Jake, much like they did when they were kids. So when Jake walked in with a smug look on his face, Clare went ballistic.

"Are you dumb or stupid or are you just a jerk because honestly, I do not understand how you would think that sleeping with a taken girl would be a good idea! I mean honestly Jake, do you have any sort of conscience at all?" she managed to yell it all with one go and by the end of it, she was heaving.

"First of all, I didn't know she had a boyfriend until recently," Jake said defensively.

"Oh wipe that smirk off your face," Clare said angrily, throwing whatever she could at him. Alas, she missed. "So why didn't you end it?"

"Honestly, I just didn't want to," Jake shrugged. "I didn't want a relationship but Alli is more than just some girl I take home from the bar."

"So she just became a friend with benefits?"

"Pretty much," Jake said nonchalantly. "Then I found out she had a boyfriend and yeah, this sounds bad but I didn't really care."

"Jake, you're a terrible person when it comes to relationships," Clare said disappointedly. "Hey, if you had a girlfriend and that girl started cheating on you with some guy who didn't really care, you'd be pissed."

"Well I don't have a girlfriend now do I?"

"Wow," Clare said astonished. "I am so glad I got kicked out of here so I don't have to deal with you anymore. No disregard for others feelings at all!" Clare started to push Jake out of the room but Jake overpowered her by holding her wrists.

"Look I don't know why I have to apologize to you but here it is. I'm sorry that I'm not the kind of guy that you thought I was, whoever that is, but it's not like every guy is what you think they should be. I'm not perfect and hell, do I care? I usually don't but come on Clare, I don't want you walking around hating me. But I'm not all of a sudden changing who I am," Jake said while leaning down to Clare's eye level. "I'll apologize to Alli and what's his name…Dave. I'll apologize. Does that make you feel better?"

"No it doesn't," Clare spat. "Apologies won't make things go away."

"Yeah well would you rather me not do anything because either way, what's done is done. Besides, I don't know why you're so mad. If it was anyone else I'd tell them to mind their own damn business but I have to be nice to you so—"

"Oh yeah, you're _so _nice! Now would you be nice and get the hell out of my room?"

Jake released Clare's wrists and walked out of the room with no other word. Clare was left to sit down on the mattress and held her head in her hands, getting a headache from all the arguing and screaming. It was true though, she didn't know why she got so involved in the situation. She wasn't cheated on nor was she cheating on someone. But there was that part of Clare who had to act on something if someone was getting hurt. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she kept this information a secret and now that it blew up she not only lost her apartment the same night but also two friends.

Not wanting to focus on the negativity anymore, Clare started to call her friends to find a place to stay for the night. After a few failed attempts she managed to get a free night at Wesley's house. Relieved, Clare started packing an overnight bag and packing up the rest of her things before heading out to Wesley's place.

Before leaving the apartment, Clare found Eli sleeping on the living room couch, peacefully laying on his back and his hands clasped over his stomach. Not wanting to leave without a warning, Clare sat on the free space on the couch and nudged Eli awake. Once he did start waking up he smiled instantly.

"Hey," he sat up groggily and eyed Clare's bag and attire. "You leaving?"

"Yeah, the landlord's gonna be angry if I'm still here in the morning so I thought I'd stay at a friend's place for tonight and then try to find a new apartment tomorrow," Clare sadly said. "Tell Adam that I'm willing to take Bruce if the new place I find is okay with dogs."

"I will," Eli sighed. "Did you straighten things out with Alli and Jake?"

Clare gave him a look. "Okay fine, I was listening, no you didn't straighten things out. But don't write them off just because they did this one thing. There's room for redemption," Eli said to her. "Come on, I'll walk you down to your car."

Eli got off the couch and picked up Clare's bag and with the other hand, took Clare's hand and led her out. After a non-tension-y elevator ride down, Eli and Clare walked to the parking lot exit door. Without a word Clare stood on her tiptoes to hug Eli around the neck. Clare's bag landed with a thud on the ground as Eli hugged her back.

"Crazy night," Clare mumbled.

"Terrible actually," Eli admitted. "Can't believe Adam's dog got you kicked out."

"Yeah well maybe it'll be part of my next book," Clare joked and pulled back, keeping her arms around his neck. "Which reminds me, weren't you working on something?"

"Still am," Eli winked. "Don't worry, you'll be the first to read it when I'm finished, if that ever happens."

"You better finish it! I really want to know what happens in _The One I Thought I Saw,_" Clare smiled.

"I told you that was a tentative title," Eli said. "But I have a lot of material to work with now so who knows, maybe I'll have something to show you within a few months. You should start working on your next book. It's a shame that my favorite author has only published one thing."

Clare rolled her eyes and picked up her bag. "Yeah well, that was something special."

"I don't think we ever really talked about it," Eli said while placing a hand on her cheek. "Think you'll ever want to talk to me about it?"

"I will," Clare promised. "But not right now. Wesley's probably waiting for me."

"Wesley? You're staying at another guy's place?" Eli stepped back a foot, completely shocked. "Another guy?"

"Eli, Wesley's a good friend and a co-worker and he's the first one to have said yes to me staying on such short notice!" Clare said to him. She stepped forward to place a hand on his shoulder. "You have nothing to worry about."

"If he tries something," Eli began to warn.

"Wesley's not like that, he's really great. Wow, you have the jealous boyfriend act down pat!" Clare said as she laughed.

"Boyfriend?" Eli tilted his head in question. "So we're gonna officially label it now?"

Clare smiled. "Well you did ask me on the elevator and if the doors hadn't opened I would've said yes. So I guess the ball's in my court. Eli, now that we no longer live together, will you be my boyfriend?"

Eli looked around, pursing his lips, as if avoiding the question. When he took a minute of silence, Clare shoved his shoulder. "Okay, okay," Eli took one of Clare's curls and wrapped it around his finger. "Of course. I'll be your _boyfriend_."

Clare stuck her tongue out at Eli's playful tone. "Now that that's settled, I should go. I'll call you in the morning." With a quick, chaste kiss, Clare waved goodbye to Eli and made her way out to the parking garage, leaving Eli with the biggest smile on his face.


	18. Chapter 18

**THERE WILL BE ONE MORE CHAPTER after this and then an epilogue. Yes guys, the end is near! Finally. I've had this story going for over a year!**

**Thank you to those still reading, I'm amazed that you guys are still here and that I still have readers. Thank you for sticking with me.**

**This is a much needed fluff chapter. Clare and Eli are finally together but we have yet to see them all couple-y! So here you go! The next chapter will be more serious though but it'll be what the story has been leading towards. And I think I'll post it fairly soon.**

**Tweet me at (hereinyourarms_) or follow me on Tumblr (returntomemysunandstars . tumblr . com)**

**Thanks for reading and please review!**

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><p>It turned out that Wesley was allergic to dogs. After Clare brought Bruce over to Wesley's place and Wesley started violently sneezing and his skin turned red in patches, it was clear that Clare would have to find a new place to temporarily stay. Wesley said that he'd take medicine for it so she would still have a place to stay but there was no way Clare could ask him to do that for her. So she was back to square one. All the way when she found out that Owen cheated on her.<p>

She needed to find a place to stay.

Bruce was now at Katie Matlin's house with her own dog that she got the same time Adam got Bruce. Clare loved the dog but it was a relief. She didn't want to have to worry about finding a place that was okay with dogs. Most apartment complexes didn't allow dogs and she found that out the hard way.

So while Clare was at work she started looking at listings. Most of the decent ones were out of her price range, too far from her work, and many other reasons. She just couldn't find one that suited her.

During her break she went to the coffee shop and ordered a muffin. She picked at it silently at a table near the window, hoping to find some sort of answer from this muffin. Obviously she didn't find one. But she did attract some attention.

"Clare?"

She looked over and found Alli. Alli had a shy smile on her face as if she were afraid to approach. "Can I sit?"

Clare nodded and Alli sat at the seat in front of her. They were silent for a while, tension filling the air between them. Until Alli finally spoke. "Dave kicked me out."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Clare replied in a quiet voice.

"Are you?"

"Of course I am."

"I thought you'd be happy about it."

Clare rolled her eyes. "Happy that my friend got kicked out of her apartment? Happy that my friend lost her boyfriend? No Alli, I'm not happy about it. As much as I disagree with what you did, I still care about you."

"The way you yelled at me about it, it just seemed like you hated me for it," Alli admitted.

"Alli, I don't hate you. It's just…" Clare looked away to find the words. "The fact that you easily cheated on Dave, it's—"

"Not your business," Alli finished for her. "I get it. You feel so strongly about cheating because it happened to you and I'm not justifying my actions. But like I said the last time, you're not involved. It's none of your business. And I am truly sorry for lying to you but I'm not going to apologize to you for what I apologized to Dave for because the only person who deserves an apology for me cheating is Dave, not you. So please, can we just get over it?"

Clare picked at her muffin again. She knew she had overreacted. She realized it one night while she was in Wesley's spare bedroom. She had yelled at Alli and made her feel worse that how she probably felt already and…for what? Alli didn't do anything directly to her. All Alli did was lie to her. She wasn't cheated on. The anger should be for Dave. The support should've been from herself. But instead she stupidly screamed at her best friend in the world for making a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. Clare's high school years were mistake after mistake and Alli was always there for her.

"I'm really dumb," Clare admitted with a laugh. "I am _so_ dramatic."

"You have a tendency to react more than necessary," Alli replied smiling. "But you put yourself in Dave's shoes too while I hadn't. Which is what made it easier for me to just go home and tell Dave. He ended up kicking me out and I'm back at my parents' until I find a place."

"Well…maybe we can find a place together?" Clare asked.

"Wait," Alli narrowed her eyes. "You had boxes when I last saw you which was over a week ago. So you haven't actually moved?"

"No, I was kicked out of the apartment because the landlord saw Adam's dog and said we couldn't have it so I decided that instead of everyone having to leave, I'd go and take the dog. I've been staying at Wesley's but turns out he's allergic. So now I'm back to where I originally started."

"Trying to find a place to live," Alli said. "Any other childhood friends living around here?"

Clare rolled her eyes. "Jake's the only childhood friend that I actually remember so no. And I've been looking at listings but nothing is really that great or in my price range. And near the paper and campus."

"Why doesn't Eli move out and live with you…or us?" Alli asked.

"Alli, Eli and I just started dating. We should—"

"It's official?!" Alli squealed excited. "Ahh! Why didn't you tell me? Oh I knew it was going to happen soon. He's so in love with you. The fact that he was dating Imogen is so gross. Ugh. I am so glad that you two finally got together. Match made in heaven!"

"Love?" Clare scoffed, blushing crazily. "That's way too early."

"Clare, he's been in love with you before he even knew you. He's a fan of your book right? His favorite book? Adam told me that Eli was in love with the writer of his favorite book and then he met you and come on Clare, how could he not fall for you?"

"You know Alli, I didn't realize how long it's been since we talked like this," Clare sighed. "I've missed it."

"I've missed it too! But don't change the subject! Do you love him too?"

Clare pretended to look at the time on her wrist, which held no watch. "Oh, break's over! Gotta go!"

"Clare Diana Edwards, we're going to be living together, you can't escape me!"

* * *

><p>It took another few days to find a new apartment but Clare and Alli managed to agree on one. It happened to be in Clare's old apartment building, the one where she lived in with Owen, but it was the one she and Alli liked so they got it.<p>

With the help of Eli and Adam, the two girls got settled quickly. Clare managed to snag the master bedroom, the one with the joining bathroom, after a game of heads or tails. So Eli helped her set up her bed and bring in all of her boxes.

Once the room had most of her stuff in it, Eli settled on Clare's unmade bed. "This is exhausting," he groaned.

"Yeah, try doing this three times the last year," Clare said sarcastically. "Moving to your place to Wesley's to here. I just want to stay in one place for a long period of time. I'm done being a nomad."

"Well just as long as you and Alli don't have any more fights I'm sure you'll stay here for a while," Eli told her. "Come over here, let's cuddle."

"There's no sheets on it," Clare whined. "Can we at least put the sheets on?"

"Claaaaaare," it was Eli's turn to whine.

"Fine, you get up, I'll do it myself. Then we can take a nap together. Deal?"

Eli jumped off the bed quickly and rather than letting Clare put her sheets on the bed he helped out. Put the bed skirt on, the mattress sheet, the pillow covers on the pillows, the blanket on the mattress, and the comforter all over.

Eli grabbed Clare's waist and pulled her into the bed, immediately adjusting them both into a comfortable position. Eli held her to his chest and trapped her legs with one of his going on top of hers. Clare was comfortable though and sleep was easily pulling her in because she was so exhausted.

"Thanks for helping," she said with a yawn. "We can take an hour nap."

"I'll set my mental alarm clock," Eli replied with an equally tired voice.

"Oh right, that does work."

"The last time we took a nap together where I had to set my mental alarm clock was the day your mom came over for dinner at the apartment. Said we'd wake up at 4:30. We did, didn't we?"

Clare smiled, remembering that afternoon. She scooted back slightly and felt even more of Eli's heat on her back. "I do," she said. "Really convenient. Think you could just be my alarm clock all of the time?"

"Is this an invitation to stay here with you?"

"Maybe it is. You can sleep over some times."

"I can live with that."

* * *

><p>"Clare, hold still."<p>

"I can do my makeup on my own!"

"Yeah but not evening, date night makeup! Just pull your hands away!"

"Alli, Eli has seen me sans makeup, with makeup, makeup running down my face. It won't matter!"

"But it's your first official date! It has to be perfect!"

Clare's heart raced at Alli's words. It was their first official date. The concert they went to together wasn't really a date date. Sure they had their steamy kiss there but it was a work thing she needed to do and Eli tagged along. It wasn't a date. They've been out to dinner a couple of times but only as friends and there was always someone else there.

This time, Eli was taking her out to a fancy restaurant. Just the two of them. And it was formal dress required. So Alli bought her a beautiful, flowy peach dress that Clare felt like a princess in. And now Alli was trying to darken up her eyes with eyeliner but that's where she drew the line.

"Just let me do it! I don't trust you with a pencil at my eye. I don't want to go blind the night of my first date with Eli."

Clare did her makeup as Alli instructed her to. The Clare she saw in the mirror was still her but with even more striking eyes. She could already tell that Eli was going to love how her eyes seemed even bluer. If she was amazed, Eli would be fainting.

She put on her mid-heels and grabbed her purse before waiting for Eli in the living room. She was more nervous that she should be. She and Eli had been together for weeks now. They hadn't gone on any dates but they lived together for months prior, they've seen each other in weird situations, they've helped each other out, and they've kissed already. It was nothing new. But it still was. She knew Eli, the guy at home, the reader, the writer, the sarcastic one. Tonight she was going to see First Date Eli.

But thinking about First Date Eli, her nerves disappeared. Excitement finally took over.

Clare got to the door before the doorbell even finished ringing. There was Eli, clad in dark everything, as usual. She stepped over the threshold for a long kiss, holding his jaw in her hands. "I'm so excited for tonight," she said once she pulled away.

"I can tell," he smirked. "You look beautiful. Your eyes…"

"Alli made me do it like this," she admitted sheepishly. "Said my eyes would pop more."

"Didn't think it would be possible but look at you." Eli was mesmerized. He leaned in closer and cradled her head in his hands. "I think I've found my favorite color."

"My eyes?" Clare asked.

"No," he smiled. "Your cheeks. They're always so red when I compliment you."

"Oh that's charming and soo cheesy," she joked. "Are we going to stand here and talk about me or are we going to get food?"

"Oh right, sorry, you're just so distracting. Shall we go?"

"Have fun you two!" They heard Alli call from her bedroom. They both shouted goodnight to her before leaving the apartment.

* * *

><p>"Adam's practically always at Katie's. Jake is the same. It's so quiet now," Eli was saying about the apartment. "Didn't realize how quiet it really was until you left. Quieter with Adam always at Katie's."<p>

"Isn't that good though? Quiet's always good. My apartment is infinitely quieter without you guys and no offense but it's been great. I can actually do work and read and sleep without any noise," Clare admitted. "You boys are loud people."

"Without you it's just boring now," Eli sighed. He reached for Clare's hand on the table and held her fingers. "Jake's still an asshole. I tried to talk to him about what happened but he says that it was nothing serious, at least to him. He says he wasn't the one cheating so he has nothing to feel bad about."

"Other than being the accessory to the demise of a relationship," Clare mumbled. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Okay," Eli nodded. "Why'd you write your book?"

Clare's eyes widened at the question. The book. Her past. She hadn't talked about that at all with Eli. Only with Adam. But Eli hadn't asked before, even when he told her about him being Bipolar. But now she's been caught off guard. And in public.

"Do we have to talk about it now?" she asked, pulling her hand away from Eli's.

"No," he shrugged. "But eventually, I hope. I want to know everything about you Clare. You can ask me anything and I'll be as honest as possible and I hope you're the same with me."

Clare decided she wanted to test this out. "Are you a virgin?"

"No," he replied. "Not since I was in high school."

"How many people have you slept with?"

"2. Sad huh?"

"Not at all, I've slept with," Clare made a circle with her hand. "A whopping zero."

Eli simply nodded in response. Clare was half expecting Eli to ask her why but he just stopped and looked at her with a blank expression. So Clare decided to keep asking questions.

"What'd you think of me the first time you saw me?" she asked curiously.

"You mean when I saved you from getting run over?"

"Yup," Clare asked, popping the 'p'.

"First thought you were ridiculously stupid for not paying attention while walking on the street," Eli shrugged. "But then I saw you and I thought 'man, just looking at this girl makes me feel like I'm cheating on my girlfriend.' That's how beautiful I think you are."

"Wow," Clare said breathlessly. "Really are being honest."

Eli sipped his drink. "We've been through a lot together and most of that time, we weren't even together. What's the point of skirting around things now? We're finally together and I want us to stay that way. So there's no reason for me to lie. Even if it hurts."

"Oh like how your hair looks terrible when you wake up?"

Eli put a hand to his heart, pretending to be hurt. "You wound me Edwards. My hair is my pride and joy and you just crushed my heart."

"Sorry," Clare fake pouted. "But if it's any consolation, your hair looks great tonight."

"Yours is poofier than usual," Eli titled his head and squinted his eyes, examining her curls.

"Well your cologne smells terrible!"

"I'm not even wearing cologne!"

Clare started laughing. "Guess your natural scent's just terrible!"

"So we're taking this no lying thing seriously right?" Eli asked, motioning for Clare's hand back. She put it in his again and he smiled. "I really do want this to work because I jumped through hoops to finally be with you. I don't want to lose you on account of miscommunication."

"No lying," Clare promised, trying to smile. She wasn't ready to tell him about her health issues in the past but she wanted them to work just as much as Eli did. If that means being truthful even if it's painful then so be it.

"Good," Eli grinned. "Oh, by the way, I may have cornered Wesley and threatened him not to make a move on you while you lived at his apartment."

"ELI!" Clare said loudly. "I can't believe you'd do that! Wesley's a good guy!"

"He's a guy," Eli repeated. "Temporarily living with a gorgeous girl! I had to!"

"That's why he insisted on not eating with me at his dinner table," she sadly mumbled, putting her arms over her chest and sitting back in her chair. "He was avoiding me because of you."

"I meant no harm," Eli said with a smirk. "I'll thank him for taking good care of you."

"You don't have to play this protective boyfriend act you know."

"I know," he sighed. Again he reached over her Clare's hand and put it to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "All I wanted for the past few months was to be your boyfriend and I sure as hell will be a good one to you because you deserve it."

"Eli," Clare said softly, partly blushing.

"I like-love you," he confessed, laughing at himself. "It's more than liking you but not quite love yet. But it's scary how quickly I fell for you."

"Well I literally fell into your arms," she jokingly replied. "Like-love, is that really a thing?"

"It's the only way I can describe how I feel about you," Eli said. "So yes, it's a thing. Our thing. For now."

* * *

><p>When Clare and Eli found Alli was gone when they got to the apartment, they celebrated in the one good way they knew. Just seconds after realizing Alli was gone, Eli pressed his girlfriend against a random wall almost roughly and attacked her lips. Clare found herself moaning from the intensity right away and gripped the back of his neck, throwing herself into the kiss.<p>

Eli pulled her away from the wall and started walking her to her bedroom. Soon they were falling onto the bed and resumed with just as much energy as before. Clare held Eli's head to her as he crouched over her body. He held her waist tightly until wrapping them around her and pressing into her.

They both pulled away at the same time to breathe, their heaving chests between them and their panting breaths the only audible sounds in the room. Eli's eyes drifted back and forth from Clare's lips and eyes before closing them.

"You're perfect," he whispered. "And you're finally mine."

"Finally," she whispered back. "After all this trouble."

"You're worth the trouble," he told her. "But since I went through all that trouble, how about kissing me as a reward?"

"That can be arranged," she smiled and leaned up to reward him.


	19. Chapter 19

**FINAL CHAPTER.**

**There will be an epilogue after this.**** A short epilogue, I think. And it will be up very very soon. Like within the week. Thanks to those still reading and reviewing. Means a lot. I hope you all keep reading my other stories and one-shots. I'm gonna have a new story up soon because I can't help myself.**

**It'd be nice to get to 500 reviews, just saying.**

**Thanks for reading.**

* * *

><p>The couple was celebrating their six month anniversary, surprisingly at Eli's request. The two had been watching TV together in Clare's living room while Alli was out with Dave, who recently decided to give their relationship another shot. While they watched a rerun of Modern Family and after Clare had commented, "<em>I really really love Claire Dunphy. She's like, an ideal mom that most TV shows don't portray. And her relationship with Phil is great. Their personalities work so well together"<em>, Eli blurted out, "Go to dinner with me on Sunday night."

Clare turned her attention away from the TV, a brow raised in confusion. "Don't we usually have dinner together every night?"

"No, I mean for our six months," Eli said, blushing at his own words.

"You want to celebrate our six month anniversary?" Clare questioned, shifting her body to face her boyfriend. "You want us to be that kind of couple?"

"Yes, I would've asked you if we could celebrate every month but I thought you'd find that overkill," he admitted sheepishly. "But I really want to celebrate that we've been together this long and we're happy."

Clare smiled and reached over for Eli's hands. Entangling their fingers together, Clare moved forward and straddled Eli intimately, putting their conjoined hands against their chests.

"Sunday it is," she confirmed. "But what should I wear?"

Eli smirked and went to put his hands on her hips to pull her closer. "If I had it my way you'd wear nothing but that's inappropriate for a fancy dinner. Besides, I'm the only one who gets to see you like that."

"Well aren't you a lucky guy?" Clare teased. She closed the distance between them to kiss her boyfriend feverishly.

Once Sunday came, Eli pulled all impressive stops to celebrate their sixth month anniversary with some very teenage-like actions as well. He texted her that morning with a message saying Happy Six Months along with many unnecessary hearts, smiley faces, and winky faces. Then while Clare was leisurely reading, a delivery man came to her door with a glass vase of large flowers (purple tulips, her favorite). Finally, Eli picked her up right on the dot at 7 PM to take her to dinner.

There was never a time in their relationship that Clare didn't feel special. Eli always made sure she knew how special she was to him, how much he cared for her, that he would do anything for her. It wasn't a relationship where Eli had to take her out for special dates to make her feel special. Moments like opening the door for her, pulling out her chair, staying up late to study with her, or even something as miniscule as coming over with the spare key he had to open her apartment door. She felt special all of the time.

But this specific day, their six month anniversary, Clare didn't feel any different from all of the other days. Sure she loved receiving the flowers and yes she couldn't help but blush at the corny text message but there was no difference in their relationship today. And Clare loved that. Feeling loved and special should be all of the time, not just for special occasions.

So while their anniversary dinner was beautiful and the food was exquisite, the vibe was the same. It was still a date between the two of them, they had the same rapport, only with mouth-watering food that someone else prepared.

On the way home from the dinner, the two of them held hands all the way to Clare's apartment. They snuck kisses back and forth, swayed their arms together, and enjoyed each other like always. Once they got to Clare's apartment door, Eli gently held her against the hallway wall and gave her a very soft kiss. But it was enough for Clare to get slightly riled up while she kept her hands on Eli's waist. Their bodies were barely touching but Clare ached to pull him closer. Pulling away too early for Clare's liking, Eli smiled at her before kissing her forehead.

"Goodnight," he said sweetly, kissing her cheek. He stepped away and went to leave, leaving Clare confused by her door.

"What?" she whispered to herself as Eli walked down the hallway. "That's it?"

Quickly, she stormed after him and roughly turned him around before attacking him with a fierce kiss. She pried his mouth open with her tongue and explored his familiar mouth, holding his head almost harshly against her. Eli's arms went around her body and he pulled her close as they kissed in the middle of the public hallway.

"If," Clare muttered before diving back into the kiss. "You think…that…" Clare lost her train of thought as one of Eli's hands went up to her hair. "This night is over then…"

Clare pulled away and narrowed her eyes at him in a seductive matter. "You are mistaken."

Eli's eyes darkened and he resumed kissing her, forcing her to step backwards as he directed the two of them back to Clare's apartment. He used his spare key to get them inside and once they were, he started passionately kissing her against the door.

Clare had been thinking of this moment for a while. She loved Eli so much, even though neither of them admitted it yet since Eli's 'like-love' confession. But she knew that she really loved him. And every time they found themselves in this state, kissing to the point where clothes would probably be shed, it got harder every time to end things before they had sex.

But Clare's feelings for Eli weren't going to change any time soon and with the assurance in her heart, she knew that she wanted to give him her virginity. And tonight seemed to be the perfect opportunity.

They left a trail of clothes to Clare's room, ending up on the bed in their underwear only. They hadn't stopped kissing until Eli pulled back to kiss and suck at points of her neck. Clare gripped his hair tightly and bit her lip to avoid making too much noise.

"I love you," Eli breathed against her skin. "I love you, I love you, I love you."

"I love you too," Clare confessed with a shaky voice. She pulled his head up to hers. "I love you, I mean it."

Eli leaned down for a slow kiss and smiled against her lips. He held her head with such gentleness that Clare could just feel Eli's love for her with just his touch. His words were admittance, his touch and actions were proof. Once he started kissing her face, Clare said, "I'm ready."

"You sure?" he asked, looking straight into her eyes.

"I am," she nodded with no hesitance. "I even bought condoms."

Eli started laughing and pushed Clare's bangs out of her face. "Oh, well since you bought condoms…"

Clare rolled her eyes and shoved him. "Shut up and make love to me already."

"My pleasure," he said with a smirk before diving back in for another kiss.

* * *

><p>Thought tired, Clare didn't want to sleep. She didn't want the night to end. It was the perfect night, better than she could have ever imagined. After pulling away from each other to catch their breath from making love, Clare knew she wouldn't be able to sleep for a while. The night had to continue.<p>

So while Eli rested on her bed in his naked glory, Clare put on a robe and got some things from the kitchen. She grabbed a bag of large marshmallows and two kabob sticks and the lighter. When she walked back into her room she set down a candle on the floor.

"Come over here," she requested. "We're roasting marshmallows."

"So first we have sex and now we're camping? What a great night!" Eli exclaimed. He put on his boxers and sat beside Clare. They put their marshmallows over the candle and waited for them to soften.

"Are you okay?" Eli asked her softly. "I mean…was it—"

"I'm up for round 2 after this, does that answer your question?" Clare replied teasingly.

"Why don't we skip the campfire and get on with it then?" Eli fake pouted.

"Because I want marshmallows!" Clare told him adamantly. She carefully ate the warm marshmallow and moaned in happiness. "That is _good_."

Clare saw Eli licking his lips, staring at her mouth. "Jeez Clare."

She leaned in and pecked his lips. She grabbed Eli's marshmallow stick and fed the very melty marshmallow to him. Eli made sure to lick the tips of Clare's fingers before she could pull her hand away.

They continued to feed each other marshmallows, even playing a game by throwing it to each other across the room to see who can catch the most with their mouths. By the time the half-full marshmallow bag ran out, Clare was stuffed.

"That was a nice midnight snack," Eli commented once they fell back into bed. He went to lay on his side while Clare was on her back, staring at the ceiling. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Clare said quickly and repeated herself to assure him. "Nothing, I promise. I was just thinking about something."

"What was it?" he asked cautiously. He brought his hand to the one she had on her stomach and laced their fingers.

Turning her head to face him she said, "On our first real date, you asked me why I wrote my book."

Eli nodded. "I remember."

"And I didn't want to talk about it then and I didn't explain why."

"Well, do you want to explain now?"

It was Clare's turn to nod. "Aside from the fact that we were in public, I didn't want you to think of me any differently because once I tell you, I'm afraid that you might look at me different and act different and it would change us."

"I won't," he promised.

"You don't know that," she said looking away.

"But I know you," he said, tilting her head to him. "And I love you. No matter what."

"I…I had an eating disorder," she told him, looking away once again. "I was trying to be something that everyone else was at my school and my neighborhood. Alli started getting modeling jobs, Owen was, my friends, it was a big deal. A huge deal. It was practically like rite of passage, like that's how you're accepted. And it came so easy for them but I didn't have the body type so I starved myself. I did everything I could to be like everyone else even if it meant that I would just…lose myself in the process. But once I realized how _bad_ it actually got, I got help. Alli, Owen, my parents, they helped me through it all. And because I loved to write, I wrote about finding who you are without searching for perfection because it doesn't exist."

Clare finally let herself look at Eli again. He didn't seem angry or confused or any of the reactions that Clare thought she'd get. Instead, he looked sad and close to tears.

Eli pulled her to lay on her side to be face-to-face. "I had theories," he began. "About what made my favorite author write my favorite book that helped me get through my bipolar diagnosis. I thought that she could've had a drug problem or alcoholism. Then again, I wasn't aware that she was actually younger than me. But after I met you, I practically forgot about what could've made you write the book. Once I met you, I saw the real you, not the writer you. But only after we made our relationship official did I think about it again but it didn't matter. You could've told me you had a sex addiction and I wouldn't have cared. Well…I would have but…nevermind."

Clare cracked a smile as Eli continued. "I'm glad you told me," he said sincerely. "Because this is a big part of your past and I want to know your past. But what I want you to know is that in our future, our past won't matter. And that you're wrong."

"Wrong?" Clare questioned.

"Perfection exists," Eli said. "In one's own opinion. I once told Adam that no one is perfect. But I've been proven wrong because in my opinion, I'm looking at perfection. Because you're perfect for me."

Clare couldn't fight the blush on her face. Her head found the crook of Eli's neck and she hugged him close. "I love you," she whispered. "Move in with me."

"Really?" Eli asked.

"Alli's practically never here anyways, I think most of her stuff is at Dave's again," she said. "I think they're close to moving back in together so I might be all alone here."

"Well," Eli softly pushed Clare on her back and crawled over her. "I can't have my girlfriend alone, especially since she's so beautiful. Who knows what ideas other guys might get."

"So you'll be my bodyguard?" Clare asked, resting her hands on his shoulders.

"Yeah, I'll be the Kevin to your Whitney," he joked, pressing kisses all over her face.

"You're lame," Clare laughed at him. "But I love you anyways."


	20. Chapter 20

**Epilogue!**

**Thank you for making it to the end! And I hope you enjoyed this story as much I loved writing it!**

**If you want to read more stories of mine, please go have a look at my page. There'll be tons there for you to read if you haven't read any of my other stories.**

**P.S. I am avoiding Degrassi spoilers of the Fall season so please refrain from telling me any new information! Most of you don't do that but just a heads up for you all! Sometimes I get requests to write about a part of the promo and I have NOT seen it and I do not plan to!**

**Thank you all again! Please review!**

* * *

><p>"I think that's about it."<p>

Eli searched his bedroom for any last bits of things he needed to pack. Nothing was in sight other than the dresser and the bed frame he was choosing to let the future renters keep. The bathroom was cleared as well. Once he carried out his final box with Clare trailing behind him, he paused for a moment. Adam and Jake were both at the door holding their keys. Eli's fished his out of his pocket.

"Is this really it?" Adam asked the two guys. "Are we all really moving out?"

"Still weird to think that I won't see you guys on a regular basis anymore," Jake admitted to them, setting his key down on the kitchen counter. "And that I'm moving back in with my dad."

"And my mom," Clare added. "Good luck."

Jake playfully glared at Clare. The two of them would be step-siblings once their engaged parents married and Clare had yet to get used to the idea. Jake didn't seem keen on the idea at first either since the two of them had kissed a few times. But ever since he, Adam, and Eli decided that they would all move out and Jake had witnessed Eli and Clare together officially, his big brother instincts kicked in.

"I have one thing to say to you," Jake said, pointing at Eli. "You better make sure Clare's happy because if she's not then you two are going to break up and move out of your apartment and she might end up having to move into our parents' place and there's no room for her."

"Oh thanks Jake," Clare smacked him in the arm. "I'll have you know that the house our parents are living at is my childhood house therefore I have a right to that house more than you."

"You won't need to worry," Eli stepped in between the feuding two and reassured Jake. "There'll be no moving out."

"Good," Jake replied with a smile. Then he turned to Adam. "Keep things going with Katie. She's pretty great."

"Stay away from her," Adam threatened. "I mean it Mr. I Get Girls To Cheat On Their Boyfriends."

Jake put his arms up defensively. "That was once!"

"You're lucky the two managed to work it out," Clare said while she walked around him and towards the living room.

"Okay fine, I admit that I'm this horrible guy. Can we get over it already?"

"No," Clare, Eli, and Adam said in unison.

"Screw all of you then," Jake said jokingly. "I'm outta here!"

"Wait!" Clare said loudly. "There's still one thing we need to settle. Everyone gather around."

The boys walked into the living room and looked at what Clare was holding in her hand. It was their "Douchebag Jar" that was collecting money for almost the entirety of Clare's stay. Because it was practically spilling out of its lid, it was probably best to see how much was in there.

"I just want to say one thing," Adam piped up. "I never had to put money into that jar. Just saying."

"You are the only one then," Clare told him. "Let's count how much is in here."

"Wait, wait, wait," Jake stopped her before she could open it. "What happens to the money?"

"It was my idea so…" Clare made the point.

"But like I said, I didn't have to put any money in, therefore I win!" Adam said.

"I was the one who put the most in, I lost a lot of money to that stupid jar! I should get a refund!"

Eli, again, stopped the feud between all of them by waving his hands around. "We'll split it then!" he said over the jumbled voices. "It's only fair that we each just take a share."

"No fair, you two get half of the jar!" Jake whined, pointing to the couple.

"That's not our fault is it?" Clare said to him with a stuck-out tongue. "Do you guys trust me enough to count it?"

The boys nodded and Clare sat down on the wood floor and opened the jar. She laid all of the money out in front of her, shocking all four of them at how much money had accumulated. She began the task of organizing all of the bills, putting the same ones together so counting it all up would be easier. She made sure to show the boys that she wasn't secretly putting any in her pocket though Eli was silently trying to get her to.

After a few minutes of counting and recounting, just so Jake wouldn't whine about it, she came up with the number on her phone calculator.

"$186," she announced. "Each of us gets $46.50."

"There was that much?" Adam asked. "How in the world did that much money get there?"

"Because of Jake," Eli told him. "When he was trying to impress Clare when she first moved in, that's where most of the money came from."

Jake groaned at the memory. "Right at the start of this stupid jar. Pretty sure I put in at least $120."

"That should teach you a lesson then," Clare said. "Don't be a douchebag."

"It's hard for Jake to not like himself," Adam stage-whispered over to Clare, causing her to giggle.

"In my defense!" Jake exclaimed. "I am not _that_ bad."

"Yes you are," again, the three said in unison.

"Okay, now I'm really out," Jake stood up from the floor. "Can I have my share?"

Clare handed him a pile of bills. "Use it wisely."

"So you mean I should use it on drugs and alcohol? Will do, little sis," Jake replied sarcastically. He pulled her in for an awkward hug that the two ended up cringing at once they separated. "Yeah, not getting used to that any time soon."

"No," Clare agreed with a crinkled nose. "Not at all."

Jake ruffled Clare's hair instead and hugged the other two boys before leaving the apartment with his last box. Adam went to go pick up his last box as well but Clare gave him a tight hug. Adam chuckled and hugged her back.

"I owe you for introducing me to Katie," Adam said, still hugging her. "Like, formally, not as Drew's ex-girlfriend. But without you, I wouldn't have had the courage to ask her out and now we're moving in together."

"And you have two kids," Eli pointed out. "Two dogs."

"And they're a handful," Adam admitted with a sigh. "But I don't think I apologized about getting you kicked out of here, or maybe I did. I probably did. But I'll repeat it again. I am so sorry Clare, I didn't realize that that would happen."

Clare patted his back before pulling away. "Adam, if that hadn't happened, do you think we'd all be here right now? You wouldn't have had a reason to bring Bruce to Katie's house and have the excuse to spend all of your time there. I wouldn't have found my apartment and therefore Eli and I wouldn't be moving in together. And Jake would still be here since we were."

Adam still looked unconvinced so Clare rested a hand on his shoulder. "Adam, it was like a blessing in disguise. It got us three what we wanted, which was to be happy with our significant other, and it made Jake move back home. It's a lose-lose situation for Jake therefore a win-win for us."

That made Adam feel a lot better. "If you put it that way," he laughed. "It sounds much better." He gave Eli a quick hug before giving Clare another long, tight hug. "You two behave yourselves, okay?"

"We will," Clare promised. She saw Adam look above her head and she turned around to see Eli gesturing to Adam with his hands. She put her hands on her hips and fixed her eyes on her boyfriend.

"I mean…of course we will Adam," Eli said to him, obviously trying to make up for whatever he had been gesturing.

"Bye guys," Adam waved before leaving the apartment.

Clare watched as Eli walked around the front area of the apartment again. He seemed to be in deep thought as he took one final look.

"You okay?" Clare asked, walking up behind him and putting her arms around his waist.

"I've lived here for over a year," Eli sighed. "It's been home. It's just weird to be saying goodbye to it."

Clare rested her chin on his shoulder, rising onto her toes to do so. "Even though I didn't live here that long, I feel the same way," she confessed. "I was just coming off from a terrible breakup and needed a place to stay pronto and the next day, here I was."

Eli tilted his head to rest it against Clare's. "I remember that day. I didn't think I was going to see the girl I saved from getting run over by a car, living at my house."

"Well I didn't think I was going to see you either," Clare retorted, transferring her arms to Eli's shoulders. "But I'm glad I did."

Eli turned around, allowing Clare to fall back on her heels, and he hugged her closely. She watched as Eli stared at her as he always did, lovingly and caringly as if he was studying her, learning new aspects of her every time. Clare smiled and pecked his lips to bring him out of his daze. She was so happy, ready to start this new chapter in her life with Eli.

"Ready to go home?" she asked him, still feeling strange about it. _Home_. _Their home._

Eli nodded and picked up his final box. He flipped the apartment key around in his hand for a second before setting it down on the kitchen counter next to Jake's and Adam's. With the same hand he grabbed Clare's and kissed her knuckles before shutting his former apartment's door behind him with his foot.


End file.
